1 


( 


I 


ROYAL  TOUCH  PIECES. 


SUPERSTITIOTsS 


CONXECTEIt    WITH 


MEDICINE    AND    SUUGEEY. 


1 


"  But  I  am  over-tedious  in  these  toyes,  which  howsoever  in  some  men's  too 
severe  censures  they  may  be  held  absurd  and  ridiculous,  I  am  the  bolder  to  as- 
sert, as  not  borrowed  from  circumforanean  rogues  and  gipsies,  but  out  of  the 
writings  of  worthy  philosophers  and  physicians.  Burton. 


ON 


SUPEESTITIONS 


CONNECTED   WITH   THE 


HISTORY  AND  PRACTICE 


MEDICINE    AND    SURGEKY. 


Br 


THOMAS  JOSEPH  PETTIGREW,  F.R.S.,F.S.A., 

DOCTOR    OF  PHILOSOPHY    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OP   GOTTINGEN, 
SORGEON    TO     H.    R.     H.   THE    DDCHESS    OP    KENT, 
TO  THE  ASYLUM  FOR  FEMALE  ORPHANS, 
ETC.,  ETC.,  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
ED.  BARRINGTON  AND  GEO.  D.  HASWELL. 

1844. 


i 


DEDICATION 


TO 


HUDSON  GURNEY,  ESQ.,  F.R.S.,  V.P.S.A., 

etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  eagerly  embrace  the  opportunity  afforded  me  by 
the  publication  of  these  pages  on  the  Superstitions  connected 
\vith  the  History  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  to  inscribe  them  to 
one,  whose  varied  information  and  powerful  intellect  qualify 
him  to  form  so  able  a  judgment  on  the  subject.  Had  I  not, 
however,  equal  assurance  of  the  benevolent  disposition  of  your 
mind  as  of  your  ability,  I  should  fear  the  result  of  my  boldness. 

Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  your  knowledge  of 
History  and  Antiquities  may  lead  you  to  form  of  my  little  pro- 
duction, written  amidst  the  interruptions  of  a  professional  life, 
it  is  extremely  gratifying  to  me  to  have  the  opportunity  of  pub- 
licly recording  with  what  regard  and  esteem, 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Your  most  faithful  and  obliged  servant, 

T.  J.  PETTIGREW. 

Saville  Row,  Oct.  28,  1843. 


CONTENTS 


PAGJ? 

Introduction  : — Value  of  Health — Veneration  for 
Physicians — F.mpiyinJQna^ — Paracelsus ;  his  cha- 
racter— The'  Six  tollies  of  Science' — Specula- 
tive Conceits  of  Learned  Men         .         .         .       13-17 

Alchymy  : — Origin  of  Chemistry — Geber — Alchy- 
my  of  Egyptian  origin  ;  evidence  of  it  afforded 
by  the  Enchorial  Manuscripts  ;  propagated  by 
the  Arabians — Objects  of  the  Alchymists — 
The  most  celebrated — Royal  Alchymists — 
Elias  Ashmole ;  his  '  Theatrurn  Chemicum  Bri- 
tannicum'  —  Philosopher's  Stone  —  Mineral 
Stone — Vegetable  Stone — IMagical  or  Prospec- 
tive Stone — Angelical  Stone — Secresy  of  the 
Alchymists — Eminent  Men  chargeable  with 
the  folly — Girtanner's  Prophecy    .  .  .       18-31 

Astrology  : — Origin    of  Talismans — Doctrine   of 
Signatures  —  Planetary  Influence — Sol-Lunar 
Influence   upon  Diseases  —  Colours   of   Sub-     n 
stances — Gathering  of  Plants         .         .         .       32-40 

Early  Medicine  and  Surgery  : — Ridiculous 
Speculations  —  Surgical  Instruments  —  Com- 
bined Duties  of  Physician  and  Surgeon  ;  when 
separated — First  Surgical  Operation — Royal 
Egyptian  Physician  wrote  on  Anatomy — Prac- 
tice of  Medicine  with  the  Priesthood — Supposed 
Celestial  Influence  in  the  production  of  Diseases 
—  Theological  Anatomy  —  Appropriation  of 
parts  of  the  Body  to  various  Deities — Zodiacal 
Constellation  — Hippocrates  the  first  physician 
to  relieve  Medicine  from  the  trammels  of  super- 
stition— Egyptian  iEsculapius — Magic  and  Di- 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAGE         1        Pi 

vination — Prohibition  of  Priests  to  practice  Me-  I      ^ 

dicine  and  Surgery — Various  Decrees  of  Coun-  I      jj 

cils  to  efiect  the  same — Miraculous  Cures  by  "■■      (] 

the  Interposition  of  Saints — Particular  Saints  ij 

for  special  diseases — Holy  Cures — Holy  Wells 
and  Fountains — Relics  of  Saints     .         .         .       41-61 

Talisma>-s  : — Cabalistical  Characters — Astronomi- 
cal— Maa;ical — Mixed — Siyilla  Planetarum  — 
Hebrew  Names  and  Characters — Phylacteries 
— Characts  ......       62-65 

Amulets  : — Eastern  oriiiin — Various   kinds — Gri- 

gris — Odd  Numbers — Abraxas — Abracadabra       66-76 

Charjis  : — OrifTin  of  the  term-^— Charm  for  Luxa- 
tion  ;  for  Protection  against  Diseases  in  gene- 
ral ;  against  Accidents  ;  against  Malignant  In- 
fluences— Evil  Eye — Epilepsy — Convulsions 
and  Fits — Hysteria' — St.  Vitus's  Dance — Mad- 
ness— Palsy —  Sciatica — Lameness — Headach 
— Toothach  —  Pla'Uie — Fevers — As;ue — Hec- 
tic  rever  and  Consumption — Glacach — Hoop- 
ing-cough —  Gout  — Scrofula — Rickets — Sore 
Eyes — iMarasmus — Calculus — Cholera — Jaun- 
dice— Worms — Venomous  Bites — Tarantula — 
Erysipelas— Burns — Thorns — Warts — Small- 
pox— Hemorrhage  and  Hemorrhoids — Sterility 
—Childbirth— Child's  Caul— Cramp— Incubus     77-118 

On  the  I>'FLUE?fCE  OF  THE  JNllJN'D  VVOS  THE  BoDY  : 

— Power  of  the  Imagination — Effects  of  Terror 
upon  the  Colour  of  the  Hair  ;  in  dissipating 
Pain  ;  in  curing  Diseases — Anger — Grief — 
Fear  —  Joy  —  Sudden  Death — Sympathies — 
Passions  productive  of  Diseases — Effects  of 
Imagination  —  Metallic  Tractors  —  Medical 
Faith — Religious  Feelinij — Prince  Hohenlohe's 
Cases — Importance  of  attending  to  the  mental 
Condition  of  the  Sick  .....  119-152 
I'ovAL  Gift  of  Healing  : — A  practice  of  English 
growth — commenced  with  Edward  the  Confes- 
sor and  continued  to  the  time  of  Queen  Anne 
— French  kings  practised  it — Historical  evi- 
dences— Error  of  Dr.  Plot — Presentation  of  a 


U 


iv. 


CONTENTS.  11 

PAGE 

Piece  of  Gold — Origin  of  English  Gold  Coin- 
age— Touch-pieces  of  Charles  II,  James  II, 
Anne,  and  the  Pretender — Medical  Authorities  : 
Gilbertus  Anglicus  ;  John  of  Gaddesden — Cle- 
rical and  Legal  Authorities ;  Peter  de  Blois  ; 
Archbishop  Bradwardine  ;  Sir  John  Fortescue 
— Henry  VII  establishes  a  particular  ceremony 
at  the  Healings — its  variations  in  the  time  of 
Charles  II  and  Queen  Anne — Proclamations 
preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Office  relating  to 
the  Cure  of  the  King's  Evil — most  extensively 
practised  by  Charles  II — Browne's  Adeno- 
choiradelogia — Trial  of  Thomas  Rosewell  for 
denying  the  power  of  Charles  to  heal — prac- 
tised by  the  Pretenders — Carte  deprived  of  the 
subscription  of  the  City  of  London  to  his  His- 
tory, for  giving  countenance  to  the  power  of  the 
Stuarts — Cessation  of  the  practice  upon  the 
accession  of  the  House  of  Brunswick      .         .   153-198 

VA.LErfTiNE  Greatrakes'  Cures  : — His  character 
— Attestations  to  his  practice — John  Lcverett's 
Manual  Exercise 199-200 

Sympathetical  Cures  : — Sir  Kenelm  Digby  ;  his 
Discourse  at  Montpellier — Mr.  Howell's  case 
— Attempted  explanation — The  doctrine  of  an- 
cient origin — Weapon  Salve;  Dryden's  notice 
ot  it  in  the  '  Tempest' — Real  explanation  of 
Sympathetical  Cures — Advancement  of  Sur- 
gery— Doctrine  of  Adhesion — Restoration  of 
parts — Remarkable  instances  of  the  Union  of 
severed  parts,  the  Nose,  the  Ear,  Fingers,  &c.  201-213 


Hi 
If 

E 

n 
ri 


SUPEESTITIONS 


CONNECTED    WITK 


MEDICINE     AND     SURGERY. 


INTRODUCTION. 

"  Man  is  a  dupeable  animal.  Quacks  in  medicine,  quacks 
in  religion,  and  quacks  in  politics  know  this,  and  act  upon 
that  knowledge.  There  is  scarcely  any  one  who  may  not, 
like  a  trout,  be  taken  by  tickling." 

SOUTHEY. 

/  When  we  consider  that  health  has  ever  been 
'  looked  upon  as  the  first  of  all  blessings,  we  can- 
not be  surprised  at  the  regard,  esteem,  and  even 
veneration  which  have  been  paid  to  those  who 
have  successfully  devoted  themselves  to  the  re- 
moval or  relief  of  disease.  "  Homines  ad  Decs 
nulla,  re  proprius  accedunt,  quam  salutem  ho- 
rninibus  dando,"*  is  the  expressed  opinion  of  the 

*  [Men  resemble  the  Gods  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  giving 
health  to  their  fellow  men.] 
2 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

celebrated  Roman  orator.  Medicine,  however, 
has  been,  and  still  continues  to  be,  an  art  so 
conjectural  and  uncertain,  that  our  astonish- 
ment at  the  anxiety  with  which  empirics  have 
been  sought  after  and  followed  is  much  dimi- 
nished. Regular  professional  men  are  too  sensi- 
ble of  the  deiiciencies,  and  too  keenly  alive  to  the 
uncertainty  of  the  power  of  medicines  over  dis- 
ease, to  venture  to  speak  boldly  and  decisively 
so  as  to  gain  the  entire  confidence  of  their  pa- 
tients, whose  natural  irritability  is  perhaps, 
under  the  influence  of  disease,  much  excited, 
increased,  and  aggravated.  The  bold  and  un- 
blushing assertion  of  the  empiric  of  a  never- 
failing  remedy,*  constantly  reiterated,  inspires 
confidence  in  the  invalid,  and  not  unfrequently 
tends  by  its  operation  oij  the  mind  to  assist  in 
the  eradication  of  disorder.  Few  people  possess 
either  leisure  or  inclination  in  large  and  popu- 
lous places,  -where  alone  the  quack  sets  upon 
his  work  of  deception  and  not  unfrequently  de- 
struction, to  examine  into  and  detect  the  impo- 
sition. Human  credulity  is  too  strong  to  resist 
the  bold  and  unblushing  assertions  of  the  em- 
piric, and  to  his  hands  is  readily  committed  the 
care  of  the  most  precious  gift  of  Heaven. 

It  has  not  inaptly  been  observed, f  that  ''in 
the  true  infancy  of  science,  philosophers  were 

*  Death  is  the  cure  of  all  diseases.  There  is  no  calholicon 
or  universal  remedy  I  know,  but  this,  which  though  nauseous 
to  queasy  sf-omachs.  yet  to  prepanid  appetites  is  nectar,  and  a 
pleasant  potion  of  immortality."     (Browne's  Religio  Medici.) 

t  D'Israeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature,  second  series,  vol. 
iii.,  1).  1. 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

as  iiiiHginative  a  race  as  poets."  No  discovery, 
ill  sliort,  was  promulgated  but  iu  combination 
with  the  marvellous.  Hence  the  'Admirable 
Secrets'  of  Albertus  Magnus;  the  'Natural 
Magic'  of  Baptista  Porta ;  the  '  Demones  of 
Cornelius  Agrippa:  the  '  Elixir  of  Life'  of  Van 
Helmont;  and  the  'Fairy'  of  Paracelsus.  It 
w^ould  be  no  easy  task  to  assign  the  earliest  age 
of  quackery  in  medicine.  It  is,  perhaps,  coeval 
with  the  introduction  of  chemistrv,  but  the  first 
renowned  quack  is  probably  to  be  found  in  Pa- 
racelsus. He  boasted  his  power  of  making  man. 
immortal,  yet  he  died  at  the  early  age  of  48 
years,  in  the  hospital  of  St.  Sebastian,  at  Saltz- 
buro;  in  Germany,  in  the  year  1541,  liavins^  fol- 
lowed  a  life  of  great  indulgence  and  dissipation. 
It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  the  family  name 
of  this  "  strange  and  paradoxical  genius"  should 
have  heenBombasius,  which  he  changed,  as  was 
a  common  practice  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  to  another,  and  assumed  that  of  Paracel- 
sus. His  zeal  and  application  were  extraordi- 
nary. He  derived  his  knowledge  from  travel- 
ling in  various  parts  of  the  \\orld,  and  consult- 
ing monks,  conjurors,  barber-surgeons,  old 
women,  and  all  persons  said  to  be  gifted  with 
the  knowledge  of  secret  arts,  remedies,  &c. 
He  was  professor  of  medicine  at  Basle,  but  be- 
came renowned  by  a  nostrum  called  azoth, 
which  he  vaunted  as  tVie  philosopher's  stone  — 
the  medical  panacea  —  the  tincture  of  life.  He 
styled  himself  the  "  monarch  of  physicians," 
and  arrogantly  exclaimed  that  the  hair  on  the 
back  of  his  head  knew  more  than  all  authors; 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

that  the  clasps  of  his  shoes  were  more  learned 
than  Galen  or  Avicenna ;  and  that  his  beard 
possessed  more  experience  than  all  the  academy 
of  Basle  :  "  Stultissimus  pilus  occipitis  mei  plus 
scit,  qnani  omnes  vestri  doctores,  et  calceorum 
meorum  annuli  doctiores  sunt  quam  vester  Ga- 
lenus  et  Avicenna,  barba  mea  plus  experta  est 
quam  vestrce  omnes  Academise."  Extravagant 
as  all  this  may  appear,  it  yet  had  the  effect  of 
dissipating  a  too  excessive  admiration  of  the  an- 
cients, at  that  time  prevalent  in  the  schools. 
His  boldness  was  such,  that  at  his  first  lecture 
upon  his  appointment  to  the  professorship  in  the 
University,  he,  before  his  pupils,  publicl}"  burnt 
the  writinsfs  of  Galen  and  Avicenna  !  His  edu- 
cation,  however,  was  very  imperfect,  and  he 
"wasifrnorant  even  of  his  own  vernacular  tong:ue. 
Thomas  Erastus,  one  of  his  pupils,  wrote  a  book 
to  detect  his  impostures.  He  was  nevertheless 
a  m.an  of  great  abilitj^  and  did  much  towards 
the  advancement  of  chemical  knowledf^e,  parti- 
cularly in  its  application  to  the  purposes  of  me- 
dicine. Armed  with  opium,  antimony,  and 
mercury,  he  effected  many  extraordinarj^, cures. 
The  quadrature  of  the  circle  ;  the  multiplica- 
tion of  the  cube ;  the  perpetual  motion  ;  the  phi- 
losophical stone  ;  magic  ;  and  judicial  astrology 
have  been  aptly  denominated  "The  Six  Follies 
of  Science."  However  vain  has  been  the  study, 
and  however  futile  the  results,  the  indulgence 
of  the  vanity  and  the  pains  of  the  research  have 
not  been  unattended  with  benefit  to  mankind  ; 
inasmuch  as  they  have  been  the  cause  of  many 
discoveries  of  much  importance.     The  errors  in 


INTRODUCTION. 


17 


medicine  have  usually  originated  in  the  specu- 
lative conceits  of  men  of  superior  capacities. 
"  The  blunders  of  the  weak  are  short  lived,  but 
a  false  theory,  with  a  semblance  of  nature, 
struck  in  the  mint  of  genius,  often  deceives  the 
learned,  and  passes  current  through  the  world." 


ALCHYMY. 

*'  Trust  to  this  doctrine,  set  herein  your  desiers, 
And  now  lerne  the  regiment  of  your  fiers." 

NoRTOA. 

The  study  of  alchymy  gave  birth  to  chemis- 
try ;  its  principal  object  was  the  transmutation 
of  the  baser  metals  into  gold  and  silver.  Suidas, 
whose  Greek  Lexicon  was  composed  in  the 
twelfth  century,  has  defined  chemistry  "the 
preparation  of  silver  and  gold  :"  this  is  a  distinct 
identification  of  chemistry  with  alchymy.  A 
better  etymology  of  the  word  is  to  be  found,  per- 
haps, in  the  fact  that  the  country  of  Egypt  was 
called  Khame,  Chemia,  Chamia,  or  Cham,  the 
meaning  of  which  in  hieroglyphics  is  black,  — 
an  allusion,  probably,  to  the  dark  soil  thrown  up 
b}''  the  river  Nile  ;  and  in  this  country  chemis- 
try may  be  looked  upon  to  have  originated. 
Chemistry  now  happily  constitutes  a  science  of 
great  practical  benefit  to  mankind,  embraces  ob- 
jects of  vast  extent  and  utility,  gives  to  us  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  bodies,  and 
no  longer  tempts  either  the  superstitious  or  the 
avaricious  to  the  attainment  of  improper,  un- 
natural, or  inordinate  gains.     Dr.  Thomson*  is 

*  History  of  Chemistry,  p.  14. 


'         ALCHY.MY.  19 

disposed  to  believe  that  cliemi.stry  or  alchymy — 
■understanding  by  these  terms  the  art  of  raalung 
o-old    and    silver  —  orio-inated    with    the   Ara- 
bians  alter  the  establishment  of  the  caliphs,  and 
that  its  appHcation  was  then  first  directed  to  the 
purposes  of  medicine,     Geber,  who  lived  in  the 
seventh  century,  he  observes,  makes  no  allusion 
to  the  transmutation  of  metals;  and  he  hence 
concludes  that  the  practice  dates  its  origin  pos- 
terior to  his  time.    It  must,  however,  be  remark- 
ed that  Geber  expressly  mentions  the  philoso- 
pher's stone,  and  professes  to  give  the  mode  of 
preparing  it,  and  I  know  not  iiow  to  separate 
this  art  from  that  of  converting  or  altering  the 
nature  of  different  substances.     Dr.  Thomson 
reijards  Geber's  work  as  the  earliest  chemical 
treatise  in  existence ;    and    he   describes  it  as 
written  with  so  much   plainness  that  we  can 
understand  the  nature  of  the  substances  which 
he  employed,  the  processes  which  he  followed, 
and  the  greater  number  of  the  products  he  ob- 
tained.    The  chemical  facts  observable  in  his 
work  he  thinks  entitle  him  to  the  appellation  of 
"  The  father  and  founder  of  chemistry."     Yet 
Dr.  Johnson  regarded  his  language  as  so  prover- 
bially obscure,  that  he  presumed  the  word  gib- 
berish or  geberish  to  have  arisen  from  the  style 
of  his  writings.    The  language  of  the  alchy  mists 
was  enigmatical  and  obscure,  their  science  and 
all  its  processes  were   mysterious,  and  directed 
to  be  conducted  with  great  privacy.     The  me- 
tals were  personified  —  gold  was  the  only  pure 
and  healthy  man,  the  others  were  as  "lepers" 
or  diseased  ones. 


20  ALCHYMY. 

Alchvmv  cannot  be  reoarded  as  of  Arabian 
origin,  however  much  it  may  have  been  culti- 
vated and  extended  in  that  country.  It  flourish- 
ed at  a  very  early  period  in  Egypt,  and  the  late 
discoveries  in  that "  laud  of  marvels"  have  shown 
an  extended  acquaintance  with  various  arts  and 
sciences  as  exercised  in  the  different  manufac- 
tures, of  which  representations  are  to  be  found 
in  the  tombs  and  excavations  of  a  very  early 
date.  Without  some  knowledge  of  chemistry 
the  Egyptians  could  never  have  excelled,  as 
they  have  done,  in  the  making  of  glass,  of  linen, 
in  dyeing,  in  the  use  of  mordaunts,  &c.  Their 
manufacture  of  metals,  particularly  of  gold  — 
the  whole  process  of  which  is  represented  in  the 
tombs  of  Beni  Hassan  and  at  Thebes  —  into 
various  ornaments;  their  gold  wire,  their  gild- 
ing, &c.,  exhibit  great  ability,  and  could  not 
have  been  effected  without  some  knowledge  of 
metallurgy.  Their  embalmings  also  display  an 
acquaintance  with  chemistry.  The  Egyptian 
manuscripts  hitherto  discovered  have  not  af- 
forded any  particular  light  into  the  extent  of 
their  knowledge;  but  several  papyri  have  been 
found  to  contain  certain  formulae;  and  one,  a  bi- 
lingual manuscript  (being  Enchorial  and  Greek) 
was  examined  by  my  late  friend,  Professor  Reu- 
vens,  the  conservator  of  the  Museum  of  Antiqui- 
ties at  Leyden,  and  was  found  to  treat  of  magical 
operations,  and  to  contain  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred chemical  and  alchymical  formulae. 

It  has  been  usual  to  ascribe  the  introduction 
of  alchymy  to  Pythagoras,  to  Solomon,  or  rather 
to  Hermes,  and  it  has  not  unfrequently  been 


ALCHYMY.  21 

called  the  hermetical  science.  Gibbon  has 
shown  that  the  Greeks  were  inattentive  either 
to  the  use  or  the  abuse  of  chemistry,  and  that 
the  immense  collection  of  Pliny  contains  no  in- 
stance of,  or  reference  to,  the  transmutation  of 
metals.  He  states  the  persecution  of  Diocletian 
to  be  the  first  authentic  event  in  the  history  of 
alchymy.  After  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  the 
Arabs  it  spread  over  the  globe. 

The  objects  of  the  alchymists  were  to  convert 
other  metals  into  gold  and  silver,  to  remedy  all 
diseases,  and  to  prolong  human  life  to  an  indefi- 
nite period. 

"  A  perfect  medicine  for  bodies  that  be  sick 
Of  all  infirmities  to  be  relieved  ; 
This  heleth  nature  and  prolongeth  lyfe  eke." 

To  attain  such  objects  it  is  not  surprising 
there  should  have  been  many  aspirants;  the 
credulity  of  man  was  speedily  excited  by  the 
benefits  held  forth,  and  for  a  very  long  time  an 
almost  universal  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  pro- 
positions was  entertained. 

The  most  celebrated  ancient  alchymists  were 
Albertus  Magnus,  Roger  Bacon,  Raymund  Lul- 
ly,  Arnold  us  de  Villa  Nova,  John  Isaac  Hol- 
land us,  Basil  Valentine,  Paracelsus,  and  Van 
Helmont. 

The  importance  of  chemical  investigations 
and  processes,  as  applicable  to  medicine,  was 
first  shown  by  Paracelsus;  metals  being  ex- 
posed by  him  to  the  action  of  different  acids, 
various  preparations  were  made,  and  are  em^ 


22  ALCHYMY. 

ployed  in  medicine  with  benefit,  to  the  present 
day.  Tinctures,  essences,  and  extracts  have 
from  his  time  superseded  the  useless  syrups  and 
decoctioHS  previously  employed. 

The  desire  of  transmuliiig  base  metals  into 
gold  has  called  into  exercise  the  worst  passions 
of  mankind  — 

"  To  seech  by  alkimy  greate  ryches  to  winn." 

(Norton's  Ordinull,  p.  6.) 

Thus  a  love  of  riches  sprang  out  of  the  pursuit 
of  chemical  science;  and,  considering  the  ex- 
traordinary o})erations  connected  with  the  study 
and  the  decompositions  that  have  been  effected, 
it  is  perhaps  scarcely  surprising  that  so  many 
men  of  considerable  talent  should  have  become 
so  infatuated.  Many,  doubtless,  like  Peter 
Hopkins,*  studied  alchymyfor  the  pure  love  of 
speculation  and  curious  inquiry,  not  with  the 
slightest  intention  of  ever  pursuing  it  for  the 
desire  of  riches.  Many  liked  it  because  it  was 
mysterious.  There  have  also  been  royal  alchy- 
mists,  driven  probably  to  the  entertainment  of 
a  vain  hope  by  the  extravagancies  and  profligacy 
of  their  lives.  Henry  VI.,  according  to  Evelyn, f 
endeavoured  to  recruit  his  empty  coffers  by  re- 
course to  alchymy.  Henry  IV.,  had  enacted  a 
statute  prohibiting  the  craft  of  multiplication. 
None  were  permitted  to  multif)ly  gold  or  silver 
under  pain  of  felony.     Henry  VI.  repealed  this 

*  Doctor,  vol.  iii.,  p.  102. 

t  Numismata.     Also,  D'lsraeli,  Curios,  of  Lit.,  vol.   i., 
p.  498. 


ALCIIYMY.  23 

statute  and  published  a  patent  authoritate  Par- 
liamenti,  wliich  lias  been  given  by  Prynne  in 
his  '  Aurum  Reginse,'  and  in  which  the  monarch 
tells  his  subjects  that  the  happy  hour  was  draw- 
ing nigh,  wiien,  by  the  discovery  of  the  philo- 
sopher's stone,  he  should  be  enabled  to  pay  all 
the  debts  of  the  nation  in  real  gold  and  silver. 

Elias  Ashmole,  who  styles  himself  Mercurio- 
philus  Anglicus,  has  collected  together  in  his 
'  Theatrum  Chemicum  Britannicum'  (Lond. 
1652,  4to.),  many  curious  poetical*-  pieces  on 
alchymy.  He  states  that  his  adopted  father, 
Backhouse,  an  astrologer,  bequeathed  to  him, 
in  syllables,  the  true  matter  of  the  })hilosopher's 
stone  as  a  legacy;  by  which,  as  D'Israeli  says, 
"  we  learn  that  a  miserable  wretch  knew  the  art 
of  making  gold,  yet  always  lived  a  beggar;  and 
that  Ashmole  really  imagined  he  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  syllables  of  a  secret ;"  thus  verify- 
ing Ben  Jonson's  lines  addressed  to  the  alchy- 
mists. 

"  If  all  you  boast  of  your  great  art  be  true, 
Sure,  willing  poverty  lives  most  in  you." 

The  work  of  Ashmole  to  which  I  have  alluded 
is  perhaps  the  most  curious  record  we  have  of 
the  history  of  the  follies,  vain  conceits,  and  in- 
credible belief  of  the  alchy mists.  He  speaks 
with  great  caution  of  the  philosopher's  stone, 

*  His  reason  for  selecting  poetical  pieces  is  thus  given : 
"  To  prefer  prose  before  poetry  is  no  other  or  better  than  to 
let  a  rough-hewen  clowne  take  the  wall  of  a  rich-clad  lady  of 
honour,  or  to  hang  a  presence  chamber  with  tarpalin  instead 
of  tapestry." 


24  ALCHYMY. 

**  knowinsf  enonah  to  hold  his  tongue,  but  not 


'o    — ""O' 


enough  to  speake."  Of  its  powers,  however, 
he  gives  a  particular  account  —  as,  he  says,  "  a 
philosophical  account  of  that  eminent  secret 
treasured  up  in  the  bosome  of  nature,  which 
hath  been  sought  for  of  many,  but  found  by 
few."  He  describes  also  the  mineral  stone,  the 
vegetable  stone,  the  magical  stone,  and  the  an- 
gelicall  stone ;  and  prior  to  his  description  he 
solemnly  tells  us,  "  Incredulity  is  given  to  the 
world  as  a  punishment." 

The  mineral  stone  hath  the  power  of  trans- 
muting any  imperfect  earthy  matter  into  its  ut- 
most degree  of  perfection ;  that  is,  to  convert 
the  basest  of  metals  into  perfect  gold*  and  sil- 
ver ;  flints  into  ail  manner  of  precious  stones, 
as  rubies,  sapphires,  emeralds,  diamonds,  &c. 

The  vegetable  stone,  by  which  Abraham, 
Moses,  and  Solomon  wrought  many  wonders. 
The  nature  of  man,  beasts,  fowls,  fishes,  all 
kinds  of  trees,  plants,  flowers,  &c.,  may  by  this 
stone  be  made  to  grow,  flourish,  and  bear  fruit, 
—  increase  in  colour,  smell,  &c.,  when  and 
where  and  at  whatever  season  of  the  year  its 
possessor  may  please. 

The  magical  or  perspective  stone  makes  a  strict 
inquisition,  discovers  any  person  in  any  part  of 
the  world  whatever,  and  enables  you  to  under- 
stand the  language  of  birds,  beasts,  &c. 

The  angelicall  stone  can  neither  be  felt,  seen, 
or  weighed,  but  it  can  be  tasted.     It  will  lodge 

*  "  Gold,  I  confesse,  is  a  delicious  object,  a  goodly  light, 
Hhichwe  admire  and  gaze  upon  n^  7;?<ert  hi  Junonis  avem.^^ 


ALCIIYMY.  25 

in  the  fire  to  eternity  without  heing  prejudiced. 
It  hath  a  divine  power,  celestial  and  invisible, 
and  endows  the  possessor  with  divine  gifts.  It 
affords  the  ap[)arition  of  angels,  and  gives  a 
power  of  conversing  with  them  by  dreams  and 
revelations,  nor  dare  any  evil  spirit  approach  the 
place  where  it  is. 

In  addition  to  the  stones  already  noticed,  par- 
ticular mention  is  made  by  various  professors 
of  alchymy  of  white  and  red  stones  :  thus  — 

"  Thei  said  that  within  the  center  of  incomplete  white 
Was  hid  our  red  stone  of  most  delight; 
Which  maie,  with  strength  and  kinde  of  fier, 
Be  made  to  appears  right  as  we  desier. 
PawlulphuH  in  titrba  saide,  mente  secura, 
£t  ejus  innbra  in  vera  llnctura. 
Maria  confirmed  it  in  fide  ocu'fata, 
Quod  in  ipsa  albedine  est  rubedo  ocultata. 
The  bol^e  Landahile  Sanctum,  made  by  Hermes, 
Of  the  lied  IVorke,  speaketh  in  this  wise : 
Candida  tunc  nibeo  jacet  uxor  niipta  niarito, 
That  is  to  saie,  if  ye  take  heede  thereto, 
Then  is  the  faire  white  woman 
Married  to  the  ruddy  man. 
Understandinge  thereof  if  ye  would  gett, 
When  our  ivliite  stone  shall  sutTer  heate, 
And  rest  in  fier  as  red  as  blood, 
Then  is  the  marriage  perfect  and  good; 
And  ye  maie  trewly  know  that  tyme 
How  the  seminall  seed  masculine 
Hath  wrought  and  won  the  victory 
Upon  the  menstrualls  worthily, 
And  well  converted  them  to  his  kinde. 
As  by  experience  ye  shall  finde. 
Passing  the  substance  of  the  embrion. 
For  then  compleate  is  made  our  stone ; 
Whom  wise  men  said  that  ye  shoulde  feede 
With  his  own  venome  when  it  is  neede. 
3 


26  ALCHYMY. 

Then  ride  or  go  where  ye  delight, 

For  all  your  costs  he  woll  you  quite. 
Thus  endeth  the  subtlll  worke  with  all  her  store, 
I  need  not,  I  male  not,  I  woll  show  no  more." 

(Norton's  Ordinall,  p.  90.) 

Ashmole  makes  an  apology  for  the  quaint- 
ness  of  the  style  of  his  work.  "  The  style  and 
language  thereof,"  says  he,  "  may,  I  confesse,  to 
some  seem  irkesome  and  uncouth,  and  so  it  is 
indeed  to  those  that  are  strangers  thereunto,  but 
withal  very  significant.  Old  words  have  a  strong 
emphasis;  others  may  look  upon  them  as  rub- 
bish or  trifles,  but  they  are  grossly  mistaken  : 
for  what  some  light  brainesmay  esteem  as  fool- 
ish toyes,  deeper  judgments  can  and  will  value 
as  sound  and  serious  matter." 

Alchy mists  were  advised  to  be  particularly 
select  in  the  choice  of  their  assistants.  Norton 
says  — 

"  Noe  minister  is  apt  to  this  intent. 
But  he  be  sober,  wise,  and  diligent ; 
Trewe  and  watchfull  and  also  timerous, 
Close  of  tongue,  of  body  not  vitious, 
Clenely  of  hands  in  tuching  curious. 
Not  disobedient,  neither  presumptuous." 

{OrdinulU  p.  93.) 

An  anonvmous  alchvmist,  the  writer  of  the 
Pater  Sapienti(B,ie])esL{ed\y  recommends  secrecy 
to  the  adepts  : 

"  Be  thou  in  a  place  secret,  by  thysejfe  alone. 
That  noe  man  see  or  hear  what  thow  schalt  say  or  done.' 

"  Trust  not  thy  friend  too  much,  wheresoere  thow  goe. 
For  he  that  thow  trustest  best,  sometyme  mav  be  thy  foe." 

(p.  194.) 


ALCHYMY.  2!7 

"  Therefore  kepe  close  of  thy  tongue  and  of  thy  hand, 
From  the  officers  and  governours  of  the  land  ; 
And  from  other  men,  that  they  of  thy  craft  nothing  know, 
For  in  wytnes  thereof  they  wyll  thee  hang  and  draw." 

(p.  196.) 

"  Therefore  make  no  man  of  the  councell  rude  nor  rustic, 
But  him  that  thow  knowest  both  true  and  trustie ; 
In  ryding  and  going,  sleeping  and  waking, 
Both  in  worde  and  deede  and  in  hys  disposing. 

"  Also  in  thy  own  chamber  looke  thow  be  secret, 
That  thy  dores  and  windowes  be  close  shut ; 
For  some  wyll  come  and  look  in  every  corner. 
And  anon  they  will  aske  what  thow  niakest  there." 

(p.  208.) 

Chaucer,  who  is  said  to  have  studied  alchymy 
under  Gower,  expresses  the  same  in  a  better 
manner : 

"  Make  privy  to  your  dealing  as  few  as  you  male, 
For  three  may  keepe  councell  if  twain  be  awaie." 

Sir  Thomas  Browne  gave  much  assistance  to 
his  friends  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  alchymy, 
and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  suppose  him  not  to 
have  been  tinctured  in  some  degree  with  the 
prevailing  opinions  of  his  age.  He  was  intimate 
with  Dr.  Arthur  Dee,  son  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
John  Dee,  who  held  a  firm  belief  as  to  the  trans- 
mutation of  base  metals  into  gold  and  silver, 
which  he  declared  to  Sir  Thomas  he  had  "  ocu- 
larly, undeceivably,  and  frequently  beheld."* 

*  Suppl.  Mem.  by  Mr.  Wilkin,  p.  xcv. 


28  ALCHYMY. 

The  vagaries  of  the  philosophers  in  search  of 
the  wonderful  stone,  to  us  of  the  present  day 
appears  an  extraordinary  and  almost  inconceiv- 
able delusion.  That  men  of  eulifrhtened  minds, 
and  extensive  and  profound  learning,  should 
have  pursued  an  object  so  visionary,  tends  only 
to  excite  in  us  a  feeling  bordering  on  contempt; 
yet  has  science  derived  real  and  substantial  ad- 
vantages from  their  anile  conceits,  and  im- 
portant discoveries  have  emanated  from  their 
fruitless  attempts. 

A  belief  in  the  philosopher's  stone  lasted  for 
a  very  long  period,  and  the  memory  of  several 
eminent  men  is  chargeable  with  the  folly.  Lord 
Bacon  speculated  upon  it,  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
is  said  once  to  have  entertained  the  possibility 
of  finding^  it,  and  that  he  also  acknowledcyed  that 
the  idle  and  vain  pursuit  of  astrology  had  led 
him  to  cultivate  astronomy.  "  The  sons  of 
chymistry,"  says  Lord  Bacon,*  '•  while  they 
are  busy  seeking  the  hidden  gold,  whether 
real  or  not,  have,  by  turning  over  and  trying, 
brought  much  profit  and  convenience  to  man- 
kind." 

With  such  fruits  as  the  result,  let  us  be 
charitable  to  those  who  first  promulgated  the 
desire;  examining,  as  we  ought  to  do,  in  the 
most  scrupulous  manner,  every  subject  con- 
nected with  credulity  and  superstition,  and  sepa- 
rating the  endeavours  of  the  enthusiastic  philo- 
sophers to  extend  the  sphere  of  human  know- 
ledge, from  the   mercenary  attempts  of  inter- 


* 


Interpretation  of  Nature. 


ALCHYMY.  29 

ested  and  unprincipled  hypocrites,  ever  alive 
and  ready  to  prey  upon  the  weakness  of  human 
nature. 

Arnoldus  de  Villa  Nova,  a  celebrated  physi- 
cian, who  lived  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,  and  well  know^n  by  his  '  Commentary 
on  the  School  of  Salernum,'  was  the  teacher  of 
Raymund  Lully,  and  highly  renowned  in  his 
day  as  an  alchymist  and  astrologer.  He  enter- 
tained the  vain  idea  of  having  discovered  the 
secret  of  the  transmutation  of  metals  into  gold, 
and  he  confidently  predicted  by  his  astrological 
acumen  the  destruction  of  the  world  in  the  year 
1335.  His  alcliymical  speculations  were  pro- 
ductive of  many  advantages,  and  chemistry  is 
indebted  to  him  for  the  discovery  of  the  sul- 
phuric, the  muriatic,  and  the  nitric  acids.  The 
sulphuric  acid  he  found  to  be  a  menstruum  ca- 
pable of  retaining  the  sapid  and  odoriferous  prin- 
ciples of  various  vegetable  substances,  and  from 
this  discovery  have  issued  the  numerous  spi- 
rituous solutions  so  commonlv  used  as  tinctures 
in  medicine,  and  as  cosmetics.  The  essential  oil 
of  turpentine  was  also  discovered  by  him,  and  he 
is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  give  any  regular 
scientific  details  of  the  process  of  distillation. 
This  case  is  one,  out  of  many  others  that  might 
be  referred  to,  illustrative  of  the  advantages 
science  has  received  through  the  ridiculous  ex- 
pectations of  the  alchymists. 

The  nineteenth  century  has  not  yet  passed 
away,  and  Dr.  Christopher  Girtanner,  an  emi- 
nent professor  of  Gottinfren,  has  prophesied,  in 
a  Memoir  on  Azote,  in  the  '  Annales  de  Chimie,' 


30  ALCHYMY. 

No.  100,  that  it  will  give  birth  to  the  transmu- 
tation of  metals.  The  passage  expressing  this 
extraordinary  opinion  is  too  singular  not  to  be 
here  transcribed  : 

"In  the  nineteenth  century  the  transmuta- 
tion of  metals  will  be  generally  known  and  prac- 
tised. Every  chemist  and  every  artist  will  make 
gold  ;  kitchen  utensils  will  be  of  silver,  and  even 
gold,  which  will  contribute  more  than  anything 
else  to  prolong  life,  poisoned  at  present  by  the 
oxyds  of  copper,  lead,  and  iron,  which  we  daily 
swallow  with  our  food." 

It  is  no  part  of  my  intention  to  compose  a 
history  of  the  alchymists,  and  I  shall  therefore 
quit  the  subject  by  enumerating  a  piece  of  folly, 
not  to  say  imposture,  recorded  of  Edward  Kelley, 
the  companion  of  the  renowned  Dr.  Dee.  Kel- 
ley, Vv'illing  to  make  what  alchymists  call  a  pro- 
jection, is  said  to*  have  cut  a  piece  of  metal  out 
of  a  warming-pan,  which,  having  placed  on  the 
fire  and  endowed  it  with  a  small  portion  of  his 
elixir,  was  instantly  transmuted  into  a  plate  of 
pure  silver  !  This  was  sent,  together  with  the 
remains  of  the  warming-pan,  to  Queen  Ehza- 
beth,  as  a  successful  exercise  of  his  power.  He 
professed  equal  ability  in  the  formation  of  gold, 
and  gave  av\ay  upon  occasion  of  the  marriage* 
of  one  of  his  maid  servants,  rings,  twisted  with 
three  gold  wires,  to  the  value  of  £4000,  which,  as 
Ashmole  observes,  "  was  highly  generous,  but 

*  This  was  at  Trebona,  in  1589. 


ALCHYMY.  31 

to  say  truth,  openly  profuse  beyond  the  modest 
limits  of  a  sober  philosopher."* 

*  Eusebe  Salverte  published,  in  1829,  at  Paris,  a  work  en- 
titled '  Des  Sciences  Occultes,  ou  Essai  sur  la  Magie,  les  Pro- 
diges,  et  les  Miracles,'  which  will  reward  the  reader's  patient 
attention.  Pie  will  there  find  an  immense  collection  of  curious 
subjects  discussed  with  considerable  ability,  and  he  will  be 
enabled  to  appreciate  the  extent  of  knowledge  possessed  by 
the  ancients  in  different  branches  of  natural  philosophy  — 
mechanics,  acoustics,  optics,  hydrostatics,  chemistry,  medi- 
cine, and  meteorology. 


ASTROLOGY. 

"If  cither  Sextus  Empiricus,  Picas  Mirandula,  Sexlus  ab 
Heminga,  Pererius,  Erastus,  Chambers,  &c.,  have  so  far  pre- 
vailed with  any  man  that  he  will  attribute  no  virtue  at  all  to 
the  Heavens,  or  to  Sun,  or  Moon,  more  than  he  doth  to  their 
signs  at  an  innkeeper's  post,  or  tradesman's  shop,  or  gene- 
rally condemn  all  such  astrological  aphorisms  approved  by 
experience ;  I  refer  him  to  Bellantius,  Pirovanus,  Marascal- 
lerus,  Goclenius,  Sir  Christopher  Heydon,  &c." 

BuETox's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 

Alchymy,  judicial  astrolooy,  and  natural 
maoric  are  all  intirnatelv  associated  tocjether. 
"  Judiciall  astrologie,"  according  to  Ashmole, 
"is  the  key  of  naturall  magick,  and  naturall 
magick  the  doore  that  leads  to  this  blessed  (the 
philosopher's)  stone."  In  the  employment  of 
certain  characters,  letters,  words,  or  figures,  as 
talismans,  to  avert  or  conquer  disease,  it  is  pre- 
tended that  they  have  been  derived  from  the 
various  appearances  to  be  observed  upon  certain 
plants,  roots,  seeds,  fruits,  &c,,  even  upon  stones, 
flints,  and  other  bodies.  These  figures,  the  as- 
trologers contend,  are  the  evidence  of  Provi- 
dence, and  not  the  result  of  chance,  and  directed 
to  our  good,  being  the  characters  and  figures 
of  those  stars  by  whom  they  are  principally 
governed  and  endow^ed  with  particular  virtues. 
"Thesouleof  the  world,"  says  Ashmole,  "is 
not  confined,  nor  the  celestial  influences  limited, 
but  can  communicate  their  virtues  alike  to  things 


ASTROLOGY.  33 

arlificiaTlij  made  as  well  as  naturally  gene- 
rated;" from  which  it  is  deduced  as  necessary, 
that  a  "fit  election"  nriust  be  built  up  from  the 
foundation  of  astrology  suitable  to  the  nature  of 
the  operation  proposed  to  be  effected,  and  that 
the  stars  finding  a  figure  aptly  disposed  for  re- 
ceiving them,  they  forthwith  impress  their  vir- 
tue, which  they  retaining,  do  afterwards  operate 
in  that  which  they  find  to  be  "  semljlable." 

Talismans,  or  the  doctrine  of  signatures,  may 
therefore  be  said  to  have  taken  their  origin  from 
a  belief  that  medicinal  substances  bore  upon 
their  external  surfaces  the  properties  or  virtues 
they  possessed,  impressed  upon  them  by  plane- 
tary influence.  The  connexion  of  the  proper- 
ties of  su Instances  with  their  colour  is  also  an 
opinion  of  great  antiquity  :  white  was  regarded 
as  refrigerant,  red  as  hot  —  hence  cold  and  hot 
qualities  were  attributed  to  different  medicines. 
This  opinion  led  to  serious  errors  in  practice. 
Red  flowers  were  given  for  disorders  of  the  san- 
guiferous  system,  yellow  ones  for  those  of  the 
biliary  secretion,  &c.  We  find  that  in  small- 
pox red  bed-coverings  were  employed,  with  the 
view  of  bringing  the  pustules  to  the  surface  of 
the  body.  The  bed-furniture  and  hangings 
were  very  commonly  of  a  red  colour, — red 
substances  were  to  be  looked  upon  by  the  pa- 
tient. Burnt  purple,  pomegranate  seeds,  mul- 
berries, or  other  red  ingredients  were  dissolved 
in  their  drink.  In  short,  as  Avicenna  contended 
that  red  bodies  moved  the  blood,  everything  of 
a  red  colour  was  employed  in  these  cases. 
John  of  Gaddesden,  physician  to  Edward  II.,  di- 


34  ASTROLOGY. 

rects  his  patients  to  be  wrapped  up  in  scarlet 
dresses;  and  he  says,  that  "when  the  son  of 
the  renowned  king  of  England  (Edvv.  II.)  lay 
sick  of  the  small-pox  I  took  care  that  everything- 
around  the  bed  should  be  of  a  red  colour; 
which  succeeded  so  completely  that  the  Prince 
was  restored  to  perfect  health,  without  a  vestige 
of  a  pustule  remaining."  Wraxall,  in  his  '  Me- 
moirs,' says  that  the  Emperor  Francis  I.,  when 
infected  with  the  small-pox,  was  rolled  up  in  a 
scarlet  cloth,  by  order  of  his  physician,  so  late 
as  1765,  when  he  died.  Ka3mi)fer  (History  of 
Japan)  says,  that  "when  any  of  the  emperor's 
children  are  attacked  with  the  small-pox,  not 
only  the  chamber  and  bed  are  covered  w4th  red 
hangings,  but  all  persons  who  approach  the  sick 
prince  must  be  clad  in  scarlet  gowns."  Flan- 
nel dyed  nine  times  in  blue  was  held  to  be  effi- 
cacious in  the  removal  of  glandular  swellinofs. 

The  rising  and  setting  of  the  stars,  the 
eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the  appearance  of 
comets  or  other  fiery  meteors,  the  aspects,  con- 
junctions, and  oppositions  of  the  planets  have 
all  been  considered  to  be  intimately  influential 
in  the  production  as  in  the  relief  of  diseases. 
y/  Fracastorius,  a  poet  and  physician,  sought  for 
the  causes  of  diseases  in  the  heavens.  Certain 
positions  of  the  celestial  bodies  he  considered  to 
be  of  malignant  influence,  by  which  contaTious 
disorders  were  produced.  A  conjunction  of 
many  stars  under  the  large  fixed  stars  predicted 
a  contagion,  falling  stars  and  comets  denoted 
putrefaction.  The  Jesuit  Kircher,  after  a  strict 
examination  of  almanacs  and  astrological  tables, 


ASTROLOGY.  35 

contended  that  putrid  diseases  had  always  pre- 
vailed at  those  times  when  the  planet  Mars  and "^ 
Saturn  were  in   conjunction.     He  therefore  in- 
ferred that  those  two  planets  emitted  very  deadly  • 
exhalations,  which  infected  the  air  and  all  ter- 
restrial prod  actions  with  a  putrescent  tendency,  ^ 
—  when  myriads  of  animalcules*  were  instantly 
generated,  and  the  plague,  the  small-pox,  the 
measles,  or  some  other  putrid  fevers  became  in- 
evitable. 

Mr.  Fraser*  notices  the  superstitious  belief 
of  the  natives  of  Khorasan  in  the  powers  of  the 
celestial  bodies,  and  says  they  attributed  the 
ravages  of  the  cholera  with  which  they  were 
visited  to  the  influence  of  the  star  Canopus, , 
(called  by  the  Persians  and  Arabians  Zoheil,) 
which  became  visible  at  this  time  above  the  ho- 
rizon, a  little  before  sunrise.  The  Druids  are 
know^n  to  have  introduced  many  superstitions 
in  connexion  with  the  moon,  some  of  which 
have  descended  to  the  present  day.  Animals 
were  killed,  seeds  were  sow^n,  plants  were 
gathered,  timber  was  felled,  voyages  were  under- 
taken, new  garments  were  put  on,  the  hair  was 
cut,  only  at  particular  periods  of  the  moon. 
The  early  English  almanacs  abound  with  re- 
ference to  its  condition.  Brandf  quotes  from 
'The  Husbandman's  Practice,  or  Prognostica- 
tion for  ever'  (Lond.  1664,  8vo.),  the  following 
curious  passage  :  "  Good  to  purge  with  electua- 
ries, the  moon  in  Cancer ;  with  pills,  the  moon  ^ 

*  Narrative  of  a  Journey  into  Khorasan,  p.  64. 
t  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.,  p.  470. 


36  ASTROLOGY. 

in  Pisces;  with  potions,  the  moon  in  Virgo; 
o^ood  to  take  vomits,  tlie  moon  beincj  in  Taurus, 
Virgo,  or  the  latter  part  of  Sagittarius  ;  to  purge 

*  the  head  by  sneezing,  the  moon  being  in  Can- 
cer, Leo,  or  Virgo ;  to  stop  fluxes  and  rheumes, 
the  moon  beiiig  in  Taurus,  Virgo,  or  Capri- 
corne ;  to  bath^'e  when  the  moon  is  in  Cancer, 
Libra,  Aquarius,  or  Pisces;  to  cut  the  hair  off 
the  head  or  beard  wlien  the  moon  is  in  Libra, 
Sagittarius,  Aquarius,  or  Pisces.  Briefe  ob- 
servations in  husbandry  :  set,  vsow  seeds,  crraft, 
and  plant,  the  moon  being  in  Taurus,  Virgo,  or 
in  Capricorne;  and  all  kinde  of  corne,  in  Can- 
cer; graft  in  March  at  the  moone's  increase, 
she  being  in  Taurus  or  Capricorne." 

Burton*  tells  us  that  St.  John's  wort,  gathered 
on  a  Friday,  in  the  horn  of  Jupiter,  when  it  I 
comes  to  his  effectual  operation,  (that  is,  about 
the  full  moon  in  July,)  so  gathered  and  borne 
or  hung  about  the  neck,  will  mightily  help  me- 
lancholy and  drive  away  fantastical  spirits. 

The  influence  of  the  moon  in  various  diseases, 
particularly  those  of  a  pestilential  character,  has 

/been  much  remarked  by  medical  practitioners 
in  tropical  regions.  Dr.  Balfour,  who  for  a  long 
time  resided  at  Calcutta,  an  accurate  and  intel- 
ligent observer  of  the  diseases  which  occur  in 
hot  climates,  is  generally  considered  to  have 
satisfactorily  estabHshed  the  influence  of  the 
rnoon  in  cases  of  fever,  and  he  was  induced, 
during  a  practice  of  fourteen  years  in  the  East, 
to  pay  particular  attention  to  its  revolutions  in 
the  treatment  of  these  diseases.  He  found  the 
*  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  p.  245. 


ASTROLOGY.  37 

accession  of  fever  to  take  place  during  the  three 
days  wiiich  either  precede  or  follow  the  full 
moon  ;  and  he  has  endeavoured  to  show  that  at 
the  time  of  the  equinoxes,  an  additional  power 
is  added  to  the  lunar  influence  exercised  on  the 
human  frame.  These  opinions  have  met  with 
support  and  received  confirmation  from  the 
practice  and  researches  of  Lind  in  Bengal,  of 
Cleghorn  in  Minorca,  of  Fontana  in  Italy,  of 
Jackson  in  Jamaica,  of  Gillespie  at  St.  Lucia, 
of  Bell  in  Persia,  and  of  Annesley  in  Madras. 
Dr.  Moseley  carried  his  o})inions  with  respect 
to  the  influence  of  the  moon  on  mankind  to  a 
ridiculous  extreme,  and  affirmed  that  almost  all 
people  of  extreme  age  died  at  the  new  or  at  the  • 
full  moon.  Aristotle  ascribes  many  of  the  de- 
rangements of  females  to  the  decrease  of  the 
moon.  Galen  says  all  animals  born  when  the 
moon  is  falciform  are  weak  and  feeble,  and  short^ 
lived;  whilst  those  born  at  the  full  are  the  con- 
trary. Lord  Bacon  invariably  fell  into  a  syn- 
cope during  a  lunar  eclipse.  Vegetable  sub- 
stances, as  well  as  animals,  have  always  been 
considered  to  be  greatly  under  the  influence  of 
the  moon. 

It  was  formerly  deemed  essential  in  the  cure 
of  diseases  to  be  acquainted  with  astronomy  ; 
and  Sir  George  Ripley,  in  his  'Compound  of 
Alchimie,'  tells  us  that  — 

"  A  good  phisytian  who  so  intendcth  to  be, 
Our  lower  astronomy  him  nedeth  well  to  knowe; 
And  after  that  to  lerne,  well,  urine  in  a  glasse  te  see, 
And  if  it  neede  to  be  chafed  the  fyre  to  blowe, 
Then  wyttily  it,  by  divers  wayes  to  throwe, 
4 


38  ASTROLOGY. 

And  after  the  cause  to  make  a  medicine  blive, 

Truly  telling  the  ynfirmities  all  on  a  rovve : 

Who  thus  can  doe  by  his  physicke  is  like  to  thrive." 

(p.  114.) 

Ashmole  declares  physic  to  be  "  a  divine 
science,  even  God's  tlieologie  ;  for  tlie  Almighty 
wrote  his  Scripture  in  that  language  before  he 
made  Adam  to  reade  it.  The  ten  fathers  before 
the  flood,  and  those  that  followed,  together  with 
Moses  and  Solomon,  were  the  great  physitians 
in  former  ages,  who  bequeathed  their  heavenly 
knowledges  of  naturall  helpes  to  those  they 
judged  as  well  worthy  in  honesty  and  industry, 
as  capable  thereof:  and  from  their  piercing 
beames  all  nations  enlightened  their  tapers. 
Abraham  brought  it  out  of  Chaldea  and  bestowed 
much  thereof  upon  Egypt,  and  thence  a  reful- 
o^ent  beame  olanced  into  Greece."* 

Hippocrates  and  Galen  held  a  knowledge  of 
/  astronomy  to  be  essential  to  physicians.  The 
latter  declares  all  who  are  ignorant  of  it  to  be 
no  better  than  hoiuicides  :  "  Homicidas  Medicos 
Astrologia3  ignaros,"t  &c.  By  astronomy  these 
ancient  physicians  meant  astrology.  Chaucer, 
in  his  picture  of  a  good  Physician,  says, — 

"  With  us  there  was  a  doctor  of  phisike  ; 
In  al  the  world,  was  thar  non  hyni  lyk 
To  speke  of  physik  and  of  surgerye, 
For  he  wos  groundit  in  astronomic. 
He  kept  his  pacient  a  ful  gret  del 
In  hourys  by  his  magyk  naturel ; 
Wei  couth  he  fortunen  the  ascendent 
Of  his  ymagys  for  his  pacient." 

*  Page  459. 

f  De  Ingenio  Sanitatis,  lib.  viii.,  c.  20. 


ASTROLOGY. 


39 


Fabian  Withers,  speaking  of  physicians,  de- 
clares :  "  So  far  are  they  distant  from  the  true 
knowledge  of  physic  which  are  ignorant  of  as- 
trology, tliat  they  ought  not  rightly  to  be  called  . 
physicians,  but  deceivers  :  for  it  hath,"  says  he, 
"  been  many  times  experimented  and  proved  that 
that  which  many  physicians  could  not  cure  or 
remedy  with  their  greatest  and  strongest  medi- 
cines, the  astronomer  hath  brought  to  pass  with 
one  simple  herb,  by  observing  the  moving  of 
the  signs."  The  virtues  of  herbs  were  consi-  ♦^ 
deredlobe  according  to  the  influence  of  the 
planet  under  which  they  were  sown  or  gathered. 
Black  hellebore  was  to  "be  plucked,  not  cut,  and 
this  with  the  right  hand,  which  was  then  to  be 
covered  with  a  portion  of  the  robe,  and  secretly  • 
conveyed  to  the  left  hand.  The  person  gather- 
ing it  was  also  to  be  clad  in  white,  to  be  bare- 
footed, and  to  offer  a  sacrifice  of  bread  and  wine.* 
A^erbena  or  vervain  was  to  be  gathered  at  the 
rising  of  the  dog-star,  when  neither  sun  nor 
moon  shone,  an  expiatory  sacrifice  of  fruit  and 
honey  having  been  previously  offered  to  the  , 
earth.  Hence  arose  its  power  to  render  the  pos-  ' 
sessor  invulnerable,  to  cure  fevers,  to  eradicate 
poison,  and  to  conciliate  friendship.  The  mis- 
tletoe was  to  be  cut  with  a  golden  knife,  and 
when  the  moon  should  be  only  six  days  old. 

Uncommon  events  in  barbarous  ages  were 
attributed  to  supernatural  agency  :  hence  have^ 
arisen  the  connexion  of  the  names  of  gods  and 
goddesses  with  various  productions  of  the  earth 

*  Plinii  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xxiv.,  c.  11. 


40  ASTROLOGY. 

which  have  been  emploj^ed  as  medicinal  agents. 
The  ivy  was  sacred  to  Osiris  and  to  Bacchus, 
the    pine   to    Neptune,    the    herb   mercury   to 

/  Hermes,  black  hellebore  to  Melampus,  centuary 
to  Chiron,  the  laurel  to  Alorus,  the  artemesia  to 
Diana,  the  millefolium  to  Achilles,  the  hyacinth 
to  Ajax,  the  squill  to  Epimenes,  &c.     Diseases 

•  having  been  referred  to  the  exercise  of  super- 
natural influence,  a  variety  of  mysterious  rites 
would  be  performed  to  remove  them.  Super- 
stition is  the  n:»tural  offspring  of  fear.  In  savage 
nations  the  physicians,  if  they  may  be  so  called, 

I  are  all  conjurors  and  wizards,  persons  supposed 
to  be  gifted  either  with  divine  or  demoniacal 
natures.     Incantations,  sorcery,  jugglery  of  all 

•  kinds,  engrafted,  probably,  in  many  cases  upon 
enthusiasm,  together  with  ignorance,  supply  the 
place  ofscience,  to  which  they  are  utter  strangers. 
Whatever  is  beyond  their  sagacity  is  assigned 
to  invisible  agency.  Pliny*  calls  magic  the 
offspring  of  medicine,  and  says  that  after  having 
'fortified  itself  with  the  help  of  astrology,  it 
borrowed  all  its  splendour  and  authority  from 
religion. 


o 


Lib.  xxix.,  cap.  1  ;  lib.  xxx.,  c.  2. 


EARLY  MEDICINE  AND  SURGERY. 


"  Witches  and   impostors  have  always  held  a  competition 
with  physicians." 

Bacon. 

Le  Clerc,  a  physician  of  considerable  emi- 
nence and  much  learning,  in  his  '  Histoire  de 
Medecine,'  expressly  devotes  a  chapter  to  the 
inquiry,  —  whether  medicine  came  immediately 
from  God,  and  how  the  first  remedies  were  dis- 
covered ?  The  first  part  of  the  question  he 
determines  in  the  affirmative,  and  the  second  he 
ascribes  to  the  exercise  of  reason  and  to  chance. 
Midwifery  is  generally  regarded  as  a  division  or 
department  of  surgery,  manual  aid  being  requi- 
site; and  Schultze,*- who  was  professor  at  the 
University  of  Altdorf,  has  carried  his  specula- 
tions so  far  back  into  antiquity  as  to  name  Adam 
the  first  accoucheur,  by  the  authoritative  voice 
of  necessity :  "  laboranti  amica?  obstetricis  manus 
adhibuisse,  sicque  chirurgise  primam  forte  ope- 
rationem  exercuisse."  Le  Clerc,  like  a  good 
Frenchman,  contends  that  our  first  parent  was 
not  only  the  first  accoucheur  but  also  the  pri- 
mary physician  and  surgeon  in  the  world. 


*  J.  H.  Schulzii,  Historia  Medicinae.     Lips.  1728,  4to.  j 
et  Itala?,  1742,  8vo. 

4* 


42  EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

Surgical  instruments  are  attributed  by  Bram- 
billa,  surgeon  to  the  emperor  Francis  II.  of 
Austria,  to  the  original  invention  of  Tubal  Cain, 
"  the  instructor  of  every  artificer  in  brass  and 
iron."  It  is  singular  that  among  the  many  im- 
plements found  in  the  tombs  of  Egypt,  no  in- 
struments that  can  fairly  be  denominated  sur- 
gical have  been  hitherto  discovered  ;  the  pro- 
ficiency of  the  art  of  surgery  in  those  early  days 
could  not,  therefore,  have  been  great.  No  ex- 
emption to  the  consequences  of  accidental  vio- 
lence, however,  could  have  been  afforded  to 
them,  and  relief  must  have  been  sought  for  ;  the 
causes  and  effects  must  have  been  obvious,  and 
the  pain  immediate  and  violent,  and  would 
necessarily  demand  relief  The  means  em- 
ployed  in  the  first  ages  of  the  world  would,  we 
may  reasonably  infer,  be  of  the  most  simple 
kind,  and,  probably,  confined  to  ablution,  suc- 
tion, and  the  application  of  such  vegetable  pro- 
ductions as  were  calculated  to  cool  and  refresh 
the  injured  parts.  The  offices  of  the  physician 
and  the  surgeon  were  probably  combined  in  the 
same  individual,  till  a  later  period,  when  wars 
and  bloody  battles  might  render  the  latter  a 
distinct  class.  The  Grecian  history  affords  ex- 
amples of  the  practice  of  the  surgeons  of  early 
times.  In  the  Iliad,  we  read  that  Eurypylus, 
when  wounded  with  an  arrow,  thus  addressed 
Patroclus  : 

^'  But  thou,  Patroclus,  act  a  friendly  part, 
Lead  to  my  ships,  and  draw  this  deadly  dart; 
With  lukewarm  water  wash  this  gore  away, 
With  healing  balms  the  raging  smart  allay, 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  43 

Such  as  sage  Chiron,  sire  of  pharmacy, 
Once  taught  Achilles,  and  Achilles  thee." 

(Lib.  iv.,  v.,  218.) 

When  also  INIenelaus  was  wounded  in  the 
side  by  an  arrow,  Machaon,  the  son  of  the  Gre- 
cian /Esculapins,  after  washing'  the  wound  and 
sucking  out  the  blood,  applied  a  dressing  to  ap- ' 
pease  the  pain,  of  the  juice  of  roots  bruised,  the 
principal  remedy  then  known  : 

"  Then  suck'd  the  blood,  and  sovereign  balm  infused, 
Which  Chiron  gave,  and  ^Esculapius  used." 

Arctinus,  a  Greek  poet,  who  wrote  on  the 
destruction  of  Troy,  is  referred  to  bv  Dr.  W.  C. 
Taylor,  in  a  paper  on  the  ballad  literature  of 
Greece;-  and  from  the  following  quotation  it 
w^ould  appear  that  in  those  early  days  the  medi- 
cal profession  was  distinguished  from  the  sur- 
gical, and  that  it  was  deemed  the  higher  science. 
Arctinus  thus  speaks  of  Podalirius  and  Ma- 
chaon : 

"  Their  father,  Neptune,  on  them  both  illustrious  gifts  be- 
stow'd. 

But  those  of  Pcdalirius  the  more  important  show'd. 

Machaon  got  a  skilful  hand  to  heal  a  wounded  part. 

To  soothe  its  pain,  and  extricate  from  flesh  the  barbed  dart ; 

But  Podalirius  was  taught  the  secret  ills  to  scan, 

Which  work  unseen  within  the  frame,  and  waste  the  inner 
man. 

'Twas  he  who  first  the  symptoms  knew  of  fatal  rage  re- 
veal'd 

In  Ajax,  son  of  Telamon.Tord  of  the  sevenfold  shield." 

•*  Bentley's  Miscellany  for  November,  1842. 


/ 


44  EARLY   MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

Until  anatomy  was  cultivated,  surgery  could 
make  but  little  progress,  and  few  operations 
could  be  performed.  Circumcision  is  the  first 
surgical  operation  on  record  ;  it  was  of  a  simple 
description,  and  this,  as  a  holy  rite,  was  executed 
by  the  priests.  The  early  constitution  of  Egypt, 
as  shown  by  the  chronicle  of  Manetho,  who 
lived  261  a.c.  and  other  existing  records,  was 
hierarchical ;  and  a  sovereign  is  mentioned  by 
the  chronicler,  as  having  composed  some  books 
on  anatomy.  This  sovereign  was  Athotis,  the 
son  of  Menes,  or,  as  it  is  written  on  the  monu- 
ments, Menai,  the  first  king  of  Egypt  and  the 
founder  of  Memphis.  Athotis  is  reported  to 
have  been  the  builder  of  the  palace  of  Memphis, 
to  have  been  a  physician,  and  the  writer  of  some 
anatomical  works.  He  is  the  same  as  Thoth  I. 
In  later  times,  according  to  Herodotus,  a  par- 
ticular and  minute  division  of  labour  charac- 
terized the  Egyptians;  the  science  of  medicine 
was  distributed  into  different  parts;  every  phy- 
sician was  for  one  disease  —  not  more  ;  so  that 
every  place  was  full  of  physicians ;  for  some 
were  doctors  for  the  eyes,  others  for  the  head  ; 
some  for  the  teeth,  others  for  the  bellv;  and 
some  for  occult  disorders.  There  were  also 
physicians  for  female  disorders.  The  sons  fol- 
lowed the  profession  of  their  fathers,  so  that  their 
number  must  necessarily  have  been  very  great. 
Herodotus  says,  tthvt^  ii  i>,rpa-v  ta-n  iTxsa.-*  This  ar- 
rangement and  classification,  however,  could 
scarcely  have  taken  place  until  the  practice  of 

*  ["  Of  physicians  there  are  numbers."] 


! 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  45 

medicine  had  ceased  with  the  priesthood.  Sach 
a  distribution  of  practice  might  in  cases  where 
manual  operation  alone  was  required  be  attended 
with  benelit;  but  with  regard  to  cases  in  general, 
it  would  only  serve  to  limit  knowledge  and  con- 
firm prejudice.  The  errors  of  the  father  would 
be  transmitted  to  the  son,  and  by  him  handed 
down  to  posterity.  Confinement  to  one  view 
and  to  one  subject,  of  necessity  incites  quackery. 
Wherein  consists  the  superiority  of  the  regular 
practitioner  over  the  empiric,  but  in  the  re-^ 
sources  which  his  extended  knowledge  of  the* 
human  frame  and  its  function,  enable  him  to 
apply?  Every  individual  part  is  essentially 
connected  with  the  whole  —  governed  by  the 
same  laws,  operated  upon  by  the  same  influences 
and  circumstances  ;  nothing  in  the  human  body 
—  either  in  health  or  disease  —  can,  strictly 
speaking,  be  called  local. 

As  the  possession  of  medical  knowledge  was 
considered  to  be  received  through  the  direct 
agency  of  heaven,  it  is  natural  to  conceive  the  ^ 
exercise  of  it  to  have  originated  with  the  priests. 
In  early  and  superstitious  ages,  as  already  shown, 
diseases  were  regarded  as  inflictions  of  the  divine 
vengeance;  and  means  were  therefore  sought  to 
appease  the  anger  of  the  gods,  and  mitigate  the 
celestial  wrath.  Appeals  to  the  oracles,  divina- 
tion, and  magic,  henceforth  became  connected 
with  medicine.  Hippocrates  was  the  first  phy-  « 
sician  to  relieve  medicine  from  the  trammels  of 
superstition  and  the  delusions  of  philosophy. 

Nothing  could  tend   more  to  retard  the  pro- 
gress of  medicine,  and  paralyse  all  efforts  for  its 


46  EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

improvement,  than  the  opinion,  once  so  gene- 
rally entertained,  of  the  celestial  origin  of  dis- 
ease, which,  if  admitted,  appears  necessarily  to 
demand  divine  interposition  for  its  relief.  Re- 
liofion  and  medicine  were  both  brouo;ht  into  con- 
tempt  by  the  adoption  of  sacrifices  and  incanta- 
tions, and  the  mercenary  practices  of  the  priests 
to  insure  intercession  with  the  gods.  Hippo- 
crates resisted  this  folly  and  wickedness,  and 
boldly  declared  that  no  disease  whatever  came 
from  the  gods,  but  owed  its  origin  to  its  own 

•natural  and  manifest  cause.  Even  the  learned 
Celsus,  whose  works  are  universally  read  and 
admired  at  the  present  day,  whose  writings  are 
considered  as  forming  a  conspicuous  portion  of 
our  standard  medical  literature,  was  not  free  of 
the  prejudices  of  his  time,  with  regard  to  the 
origin  of  disease.  In  the  preface  to  his  work, 
'  De  Re  Medica,'  he  expressly  says,  "  JNIorbos 
ad  iram  deorum  immortalium  relates  esse,  et  ab 
iisdem  opem  posci  solitam."*  He,  however,  had 
too  much  good  sense  not  to  rely  upon  remedies 
as  his  curative  agents,  and  therefore,  writes 
"  Morbi,  non  eloquentia  sed  remediis  curantur." 
The  religion  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  was  a 
kind  of  pantheism ;  they  believed  that  the  Divine 
Spirit  was  the  soul  of  the  world ;  yet  some  of 
their  deities  appear  to  have  been  worshipped  by 
them  and  adored  as  supreme  intelliirences,  whose 

^  notions  were  incomprehensible,  but  whose  works 
were  visible  in  the  creation.     The  symbols  by 

*  [Diseases  are  to  be  attributed  to  the  anger  of  the  immor- 
tal gods,  and  from  them  relief  used  to  be  sought.] 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND   SURGERY.  47 

which  their  worship  of  the  Deity  in  his  works 
were  at  first  acknowledged  and  reverenced, 
ceased  in  the  course  of  time,  under  the  general 
ignorance  of  the  people,  to  be  the  types,  and  be- 
came the  deities  themselves.*  The  E^^yptians 
divided  the  human  body  into  thirty-six  parts, 
each  of  which  they  believed  to  be  under  the 
particular  government  of  one  of  the  decans  or 
aerial  demons,  who  presided  over  the  triple  di- 
visions of  the  twelve  signs;!  and  we  have  the 
authority  of  Origen  for  saying,  that  when  any 
part  of  the  body  was  diseased,  a  cure  was  effected 
by  invoking  the  demon  to  whose  province  it  be- 
longed. The  late  M.  Champollion,  whose  ser- 
vices in  the  illustration  of  Egyptian  antiquities 
and  literatnre  have  been  so  distinguished,  con- 
structed a  kind  of  theological  anatomy  out  of  the 
*  Great  Funereal  Ritual  or  Book  of  Manifesta- 
tions.' This  is  frequently  represented  upon  the 
mummy  cases,  but  more  particularly,  either  in 

*  See  my  Preliminary  Essay  to  an  intended  Encyclopaedia 
.-Egyptiaca,  London,  1842,  8vo,,  pp.  20,  et  seq. 

t  Concerning  the  decans,  see  Scaligcr  ad  Manilium,  Kircher 
II.,  parte  Oedipi,Salmasius  do  Annis  Climactericis,  and  Tay- 
lor's Notes  on  Jamblichus.  Gale  has  also  given  a  curious 
extract  from  Hermes  relative  to  the  same  subject,  which  he 
derived  from  a  MS.  copy  of  Stobaeus,  which  belonged  to  Vos- 
sius.  Taylor  has  thus  translated  it :  "  We  say,  O  son,  that 
the  body  "(of  the  universe)  is  comprehensive  of  all  things. 
Conceive,  therefore,  this  to  be  as  it  were  of  a  circular  form. 
But  under  the  circle  of  this  body  the  thirty-six  decans  are  ar- 
ranged, as  the  media  of  the  whole  circle  of  the  zodiac. 
These  likewise  must  be  understood  to  preside  as  guardians 
over  everything  in  the  world,  connecting  and  containing  all 
things,  and  preserving  the  established  order  of  all  things,  &c. 
They  also  possess,  with  respect  to  us,  the  greatest  power." 


48  EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

whole  or  in  part,  in  the  papyri  MSS.*  Here, 
then,  we  see  the  first  known  attempt  to  assign 
the  different  parts  of  the  body  to  the  subjection 
of  the  different  planets,  which  has  been  conti- 
nued and  handed  down  to  us  of  the  present  day 
in  the  almanacs  of  the  renowned  astrologer  and 
physician,  Francis  Moore. 

How  admirably  and  how  humorously  does 
Southeyt  describe  the  anatomy  of  man's  body, 
as  governed  by  zodiacal  signs,  and  exhibited  in 
that  amusing  work  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
'  Margarita  Philosophica'  ! 

"  Tliere  Homo  stands,  naked  but  not  ashamed, 
upon  the  two  Pisces,  one  foot  upon  each;  the 
lish  being  neither  in  air,  nor  water,  nor  upon 
earth,  but  self-suspended  as  it  appears  in  the 
void.  Aries  has  aliglited  with  two  feet  on 
Homo's  head,  and  has  sent  a  shaft  through  the 
forehead  into  his  brain.  Taurus  has  quietly 
seated  himself  across  his  neck.  The  Gemini 
are  riding  astride  a  little  below  his  right  shoul- 
der. I'he  whole  trunk  is  laid  open,  as  if  part 
of  the  old  accursed  punishment  for  high  treason 
had  been  performed  upon  him.  The  Lion  oc- 
cupies the  thorax  as  his  proper  domain,  and  the 
Crab  is  in  possession  of  the  abdomen.  Sagit- 
tarius, volant  in  the  void,  has  just  let  fly  an 
arrow,  which  is  on  the  way  to  his  right  arm. 
Capricorn  us  breathes  out  a  visible  influence 
that  penetrates  both  knees;    Aquarius  inflicts 

*  For  further  information  on  this  subject,  see  my  History 
of  Egyptian  mummies.     Lond.  1834,  4to.,  p.  148. 
t  Doctor,  vol.  iii.,  p.  112. 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  49 

similar  punctures  upon  both  legs.  Virgo  fishes 
as  it  were  at  bis  intestines;  Libra  at  tbe  part 
affected  by  schoolmasters  in  their  anger;  and 
Scorpio  takes  tbe  wickedest  aim  of  all." 

Manilius  thus  describes  the  appropriation  of 
the  zodiacal  constellations  to  the  various  parts 
of  man  : 

"  Namque  Aries  capiti,  Taurus  cervicibus  hseret ; 
Brachia  sub  Geminis  censentur,  pectora  Cancro  ; 
Te,  scapula},  Nernseae,  vocant,  teque  ilia,  Virgo ; 
Libra  colit  clones,  et  Scorpius  inguine  regnat ; 
Et  femur  Arcitenens,  genura  et  Capricornus  amavit ; 
Cruraque  defendit  Juvenis,  vestigia,  Pisces."*  t 

The  Egyptian  ^Esculapins  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  that  of  the  Greeks.  The  mytho- 
logical veil  under  which  all  traces  of  the  history 
of  the  Egyptian  medicine  are  to  be  found,  serves 
only  to  demonstrate  that  tbe  whole  is  to  be 
looked  upon  as  alleo-orical,  as  far  as  relates  to 
the  personages  mentioned.  The  whole  matter, 
as  I  have  elsewhere  shown, J  reduces  itself  to 
fabulous  history.  Medicine,  however,  took  its 
rise  in  the  East,  .passed  into  Egypt,  thence  into 
Greece,  and  so  was  disseminated  throughout 
the  civilized  world.     All  knowledge  bein^  in 


*  [The  i?am  claims  the  head;  the  Bidl  the  neck;  the 
twins  the  arms  ;  the  Crab  the  breast ;  the  Lion  the  thorax  ; 
the  Virgin  the  bowels ;  the  Scales  the  reins  ;  the  Scorpion 
the  secrets;  the  ArcJier  i\\e  thighs;  the  Goat  the  knees; 
the  Water-carrier  the  legs  ;  and  the  Fishes  the  feet.] 

t  Astronomicon,  lib.  i. 

I  Memoir    of   ^sculapius  in   Medical   Portrait  Gallery, 
vol.  i.,  p.  5. 
5 


50  EARLY   MEDICINE    AND   SURGERY. 

the  earliest  times  confined  to  the  priests,  and 
the  art  of  healinor  beinor  traced  to  a  celestial  ori- 
gin,  it  is  easy  to  comprehend  its  connexion  witn 
the  ceremonials  of  religion,  and  in  what  manner, 
therefore,  the  superstitions,  in  relation  to  it,  were 
cherished  and  monopolized  by  the  priesthood. 
To  their  class  application  was  of  course  made 
to  invoke  celestial  aid,  to  appease  the  offended 
divinities,  and  to  insure  the  restoration  of  health. 
Magic  and  divination  were  indeed  looked  upon 
as  belonging  to  their  sacred  function,  and  re- 
garded as  the  highest  branches  of  the  medical 
})rofession.  "  Magic,  according  to  the  Greeks," 
says  Psellus,*  "  is  a  thing  of  a  very  poAverful 
nature.  They  say  that  this  forms  the  last  part 
of  the  sacerdotal  science.  Magic,  indeed  inves- 
tigates the  nature,  power,  and  quality  of  every- 
thing sublunary;  viz.,  of  the  elements  and  their 
parts,  of  animals,  all  various  plants  and  their 
fruits,  of  stones,  and  herbs ;  and,  in  short,  it  ex- 
plores the  essence  and  power  of  everything. 
From  hence,  therefore,  it  produces  its  effects. 
And  it  forms  statues  which  procure  health, 
makes  all  various  figures,  and  thins^s  which  be- 
come  the  instruments  of  disease.  It  asserts,  too, 
that  eagles  and  dragons  contribute  to  health ; 
but  that  cats,  dogs,  and  crows,  are  symbols  of 
vigilance,  to  which,  therefore,  they  contribute. 
But  for  the  fashioning  of  certain  parts,  wax  and 
clay  are  used.     Often,  too,  celestial  fire  is  made 

*  In  a  rare  Greek  IMS.,  on  Dsemons  accordins;  to  the  Dos;- 
mas  of  the  Greeks  ;  translated  by  T.  Taylor.  See  his  Jam- 
blichus,  p.  221,  note. 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  51 

to  appear  through  magic  ;  and  these  statues 
laugh,  and  lamps  are  spontaneously  enkindled." 
The  Council  of  Laodicea,  a.d.  366,  wisely  for- 
bade the  priesthood  the  study  and  practice  of 
enchantment,  mathematics,  astrology,  and  the 
binding  of  the  soul  by  amulets. 

There  is  reason  to  fear  that  the  purposes  of 
medicine  were  converted  by  the  monks  to  the 
basest  uses,  and  that  the  authority  of  the  physi- 
cian superadded  to  the  terrors  of  the  church,  ex- 
ercised over  those  in  whom  the  mind  was  en- 
feebled by  disease  and  incapable  of  exerting  its 
power,  were  employed  in  the  extortion  of  money 
and  the  indulgence  of  rapacity.  Want  of  know-\ 
ledge  was  supplied  by  mystery,  and  faith  usurp-  \ 
ed  the  place  of  effectual  proscription.  Hence  I 
arose  the  employment  of  charms,  amulets,  relics/ 
&c.  The  ignorance  and  the  cupidity  of  the 
monks  caused  the  Lateran  Council,  under  the 
pontificate  of  Calistus  II,  a.d.  1123,  to  forbid 
the  attendance  of  the  priests  and  monks  at  the 
bedside  of  the  sick,  otherwise  than  as  ministers 
of  reliction.  Still,  however,  it  was  secretly  fol- 
lowed,  and  Pope  Innocent  II,  in  a  council  at 
Rheims,  a.d.  1131,  enforced  the  decree  prohibit- 
ing the  monks  frequenting  schools  of  medicine, 
and  directed  them  to  confine  their  practice  to  the 
limits  of  their  own  monastery.  Some,  however, 
continued  to  pursue  it,  and  some  of  the  secular 
clergy  practised  it  as  generally  as  before,  so  that 
the  decrees  were  found  inefficient  in  the  ac- 
complishment of  their  object;  and  a  Lateran 
Council,  in  a.d.  1139,  threatened  all  who  ne- 
glected, its  orders  with  the  severest  penalties  and 


52  EARLY   MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

suspension  from  the  exercise  of  all  ecclesiasiltca 
functions;  denouncing  such  practices  as  a  neglect 
of  the  sacred  objects  of  their  profession  in  ex- 
change for  ungodly  lucre.  "  Ordinissui  propo- 
siturn  nuUatenus  attendentes,  pro  detestanda 
pecimia  samtatem  poIUcentesy* 

When  the  priests  ascertained  that  they  could 
no  longer  confine  the  practice  of  medicine  to 
themselves  it  was  stigmatized  and  denounced. 
At  the  Council  of  Tours,  held  in  1163  by  Pope 
Alexander  III.,  it  was  maintained  that  the  devil, 
to  seduce  the  priesthood  from  the  duties  of  the 
altar,  involved  them  in  mundane  occupations, 
which,  under  the  plea  of  humanity,  exposed 
them  to  constant  and  perilous  temptations.  They 
were  accordingly  prohibited  the  study  of  medi- 
cine, and  that  of  the  law,  and  every  ecclesiastic 
who  should  infringe  the  decree  was  threatened 
with  excommunication.  In  1215  Pope  Innocent 
III  fulminated  an  anathema  specially  directed 
against  surgery,  by  ordaining,  that  as  the  church 
abhorred  all  cruel  or  sanguinary  practices,  no 
priest  should  be  permitted  to  follow  surgery,  or 
to  perform  any  operations  in  which  either  in- 
struments of  steel  or  fire  were  emploved;  and 
that  they  should  refuse  their  benediction  to  all 
those  who  professed  and  pursued  it. 

Stringent  as  these  measures  were,  they  were 
found  inadequate  to  effect  the  purpose  intended, 
and  it  was  only  at  length  accomplished  by  a 
special  bull  procured  from  the  Pope,  which,  by 

*  [Not  attending  to  the  object  of  their  order,  promising 
health  for  fiUhy  lucre.] 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  53 

permitting  physicians  to  marry,  effectually  di- 
vorced medicine  from  theology. 

In  many  catholic  countries,  however,  the 
saints  have  proved  sad  enemi*es  to  the  doctors.* 
Miraculous  cures  are  attested  by  monks,  abbots, 

*  The  priests,  in  some  parts  of  Italy,  still  hold  their  medi- 
cal influence.  An  ingenious  young  physician,  travelling  in 
that  country  in  1838,  rnet  with  several  instances  during  his 
stay  in  Naples.  In  one  case  he  was  asked  by  the  parents  of 
a  poor  girl  to  visit  their  child  who  was  ill  of  a  fever.  He  ac- 
companied them  to  their  miserable  cabin,  and  found  her  in 
an  advanced  stage  of  typhus,  yet  not,  he  thought,  hopelessly 
beyond  the  reach  of  art.  He  prescribed  for  her,  and  laid 
down  strict  injunctions  to  be  followed  during  his  absence. 
Upon  visiting  her  again,  hb  was  surprised  to  find  that  his  di- 
rections had  not  been  followed,  nor  the  treatment  he  directed 
pursued.  She  was  now  in  urticido  mortis.  As  he  had  not 
intruded  his  advice,  this  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  parents  at 
first  seemed  inexplicable ;  but  he  soon  Ibund  an  explanation 
in  the  appearance  of  a  priest,  who,  regardless  of  his  presence, 
advanced  to  the  bedside,  and,  inquiring  whether  his  medicine 
had  been  administered,  unfolded  a  paper  containing  a  black 
salve,  a  minute  portion  of  which  he  placed  upon  her  tongue, 
and  then  harangued  in  a  most  intemperate  manner  upon  the 
abomination  the  parents  had  been  guilty  of  in  seeking  assist- 
ance from  a  heretic,  who,  he  said,  would  be  sure  to  administer 
poison  in  place  of  balm  to  their  ills.  In  other  cases  the  phy- 
sician met  with  similar  conduct. 

At  the  time  of  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera  in  Canada,  a 
man  named  Ayres,  who  came  out  of  the  States,  and  was  said 
to  be  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  New  Jersey,  was  given 
out  to  be  St.  Roche,  the  principal  patron  saint  of  the  Cana- 
dians, and  renowned  for  his  power  in  averting  pestilential  dis- 
eases. He  was  reported  to  have  descended  from  heaven 
to  cure  his  sulTering  people  of  the  cholera,  and  many  were 
the  cases  in  which  he  appeared  to  afford  relief.  Many  were 
thus  dispossessed  of  their  fright  in  anticipation  of  the  disease, 
who  mighty  probably,  but  for  his  inspiriting  influence,  have 
fallen  victims  to  their  apprehensions.  The  remedy  he  em- 
ployed was  an  admixture  of  maple  sugar,  charcoal,  and  lard. 


54  EARLY   MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

bishops,  popes,  and  consecrated  saints.  St. 
Martin's  shrine  alone  is'  said  to  have  restored 
fifty  blind  people  to  the  blessing  of  sight ;  stories 
related  no  less  at  variance  vi^iih  the  sentiments 

'  and  characters  of  the  men  than  contradicted  by 
the  laws  of  nature.  Pilorri mages  and  visits  to 
holy  shrines  have  usurped  the  place  of  medi- 
cine, and,  as  in  many  cases  at  our  own  watering 
places,  by  air  and  exercise,  have  unquestionably 
effected  what  the  employment  of  regular  profes- 
sional aid  had  been  unable  to  accomj)lish.  St. 
Dominic,  St.  Bellinus,  and  St.  Vitus  have  been 
greatly  renowned  in  the  cure  of  diseases  in 
general;  the  latter  particufarly,  who  takes  both 
poisons  and  madness  of  all  kinds  under  his  spe- 

*cial  protection. 

Melton-  says  "  the  saints  of  the  Romanists 
have  usurped  the  place  of  the  zodiacal  constel- 
lations in  their  governance  of  the  parts  of  man's 
body,  and  that  'for  every  limbe  they  have  a 
saint.'  Thus  St.  Otilia  keepes  the  head  insteac^ 
of  Aries  ;  St.  Blasius  is  appointed  to  governe  thet 
necke  instead  of  Taurus;  St.  Lawrence  keepes 
the  backe  and  shoulders  instead  of  Gemini, 
Cancer,  and  Leo;  St.  Erasmus  rules  the  belly 
with  the  entrayles,  in  the  place  of  Libra  and 
Scorpius;  in  the  stead  of  Sagittarius,  Capri- 
cornus,  Aquarius,  and  Pisces,  the  holy  church 
of  Rome  hath  elected  St.  Burgarde,  St.  Rochus, 
St.  Quirinus,  St.  John,  and  many  others,  which 
governe  the  thighes,  feet,  shinnes,  and  knees." 
This  supposed  influence  of  the  Romish  saints 

*  Astrologaster,  p.  20. 


EARLY    JIEDICINE    AND    SURGERV.  55 

is  more  minutely  exhibited,  according  to  Hone, 
in  two  very  old  prints,  iVoni  engravings  on  wood, 
in  the  collection  of  the  British  Museum.     Right 
hand:  the  top  joint  of  the  thumb  is  dedicated  to 
God,  the  second  joint  to  the  Virgin  ;  the  top 
joint  of  the  fore-finger  to  St.  Barnabas,  the  se- 
cond joint  to   St.  John,  the  third   to  St.  Paul; 
the  toj)  joint  of  the  second  tinger  to  Simon  Cleo- 
phas,  thesecond  joint  to  Tathideo,  the  third  to 
Joseph  ;  the  top  joint  of  the  third  finger  to  Zac- 
cheus,  the  second  to  Stephen,  the  third  to  the 
evangelist  Luke  ;  the  top-joint  of  the  little  finger 
to  Leatus,  the  second  to  ^lark,  the  third  to  Nico- 
demus.     Left  hand:  the  top  joint  of  the  thumb 
is  dedicated  to  Christ,  the  second  joint  to  the 
Virgin;  the  top  joint  of  the  fore-finger  to  St. 
James,  the  second  to   St.  John  the  Evangelist, 
the  third  to  St.  Peter:  the  first  joint  of  the  se- 
cond finger  to  St.  Simon,  the  second  joint  to  St. 
Matthew,  the  third  to  St.  James  the  Great;  the 
top  joint  of  the  third  finger  to  St.  Jude,  the  se- 
cond joint  to  St.  Bartholomew,  the  third   to  St. 
Andrew  ;  the  top  joint  of  the  little  finger  to  St. 
Matthias,  the  second  joint  to  St.  Thomas,  the 
third  joint  to  St.  Philip. 

The  following  list,  though  doubtless  very  im- 
perfect, will  yet  serve  to  show  how  general  was 
the  appropriation  of  particular  diseases  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  saints : 

St.  Agatha,  against  sore  breasts. 

St.    Agnan   and    St.  Tignan,  against   scald 

head. 
St.  Anthony,  against  inflammations. 


56  EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

St.  Apolionia,  against  toothache. 

St.  Avertin,  against  lunacy. 

St.  Benedict,  against  the  stone,  and  also  for 

poisons. 
St.  Blaise,  against  the  quinsey,  bones  sticking 

in  the  throat,  &c. 
St.  Christopher  and  St.  Mark,  against  sudden 

death. 
St.  Clara  against  sore  eyes. 
St.  Erasmus  against  the  colic. 
St.  Eutrope,  against  dropsy. 
St.  Genow  and  St.  Maur,  against  the  gout. 
St.  Germanus,  against  the  diseases  of  children. 
St.  Giles  and  St.  Hyacinth,  against  sterility. 
St.  Herbert,  against  hydrophobia. 
St.  Job  and  St.  Fiage,  against  syphilis. 
St.  John,  against  epilepsy  and  poison. 
St.  Lawrence,  against  diseases  of  the  back 

and  shoulders. 
St.  Liberius,  against  the  stone  and  fistula. 
St.  Maine,  aoainst  the  scab. 
St.  Margaret  and    St.  Edine,  against  danger 

in  parturition. 
St.  Martin,  against  the  itch. 
St.  Mar  us  against  palsy  and  convulsions. 
St.  Otilia  and   St.  Juliana,  against  sore  eves 

and  the  headache. 
St.  Pernel,  against  the  ague. 
St.  Petronilla,  St.  Apolionia,  and   St.   Lucy, 

against  the  toothache. 
,  and    St.    Genevieve,  against 


•I  fevers. 

II  St.  Phaire,  against  hemorrhoids. 

St.  Quintan,  against  coughs. 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  57 

St.   Roclius,  and  St.  Sebastian,  against  the 

plague. 
St.  Romaniis,  against  demoniacal  possession. 
St.  Ruffin,  against  madness. 
St.  Sigismund,  against  fevers  and  agues. 
St.  Valentin,  against  epilepsy. 
St.  Venise,  against  chlorosis. 
St.  Vitus,  against  madness  and  poison^. 
St.  Wallia  and  St.  Wallery,  against  the  stone. 
St.  Wolfgang,  against  lameness. 

"^Many  wells  and  fountains  have  various  vir^^ 
tues  and  superstitions  attached  to  them.     Thosr 
which  are  medicinal  are  generally  named  after 
some  patron  saint.     To  these  pilgrims  resorted, 
and  also  the  sick,  for  relief  from  their  diseases. 
They  were  called  holy  weUs,  or  Jioly  springs,^ 
wishing  wells,  &c.,  and  various  rites  were  per- 
'♦formed  at  them  at  Easter,  upon  holy  Thursday, 
and  other  particular  days.     Offerings  were  made 
to  propitiate,  or  to  obtain  the  favour  of  the  patron^ 
saint,  and  among  the  rest  a  custom  was  very  pre- 
valent to  deposit  rags.    Grose,  from  a  MS.  in  the 
Cotton  Library,  (Julius  F.  6,)  tells  us  that  "  be- 
tween the  towns  of  Alton  and  Newton,  near  the 
foot  of  Rosberrye  Toppinge,  there  is  a  well  de- 
dicated  to'  St.  Oswald.     The  *neighbours  have 
an  opinion  that  a  shirt  taken  off  a  sick  person 
and  thrown  into  that  well  will  show  whether  '^ 
the  person  will  recover  or  die  :  for,  if  it  floated, 
it  denoted  the  recovery  of  the  party;  if  it  sunk, 
there  remained  no  hope  of  their  life  :  and  to  re- 
ward the  saint  for  his  intelHgence,  they  tear  off 
a  rag  of  the  shirt,  and  leave  it  hanging  on  the  ^ 
briars  thereabouts :  "  where,"  savs  the  writer,  "  I 


58  EARLY   MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

have  seen  such  numbers  as  mig'ht  have  made  a 
fayre  rheme  in  a  paper-myll."  Pennant,  Heron 
(Pinkerton),  Sinclair,  Macaulay,  Brand,  and 
many  other  authors  relate  similar  practices  in 
different  parts  of  the  world.     The  kingdom  of 

•>4reland  affords  numerous  examples  of  the  su- 
perstitions entertained  with  regard  to  the  mira- 
culous power  of  certain  fountains,  holy  wells, 
&c.  Many  a  tedious  and  wearisome  journey 
has  been  made  to  some  specified  place  for  the 
obtaining  of  health,  as  well  as  a  penance  for 

"sins.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall,  in  their  very  interest- 
ing and  faithful  work  on  Ireland,*  tells  us  that 
sanctified  wells  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  all  the 
parishes  of  the  kingdom.  They  are  generally 
betokened  hy  the  erection  of  rude  crosses  im- 
mediately above  them,  by  fragments  of  cloth, 
and  bits  of  rags  of  all  colours,  hung  upon  theVy 
neighbouring  bushes  and  left  as  memorials;*^ 
soraGtimss  the  crutches  of  convalescent  visitors 
are  bequeathed  as  offerings,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  small  buildings,  for  prayer  and  shelter, 
have  been  raised  above  and  around  them.  Each 
holy  well  has  its  stated  day,  when  a  pilgrimage 
is  supposed  to  be  peculiarly  fortunate  ;  the  patron 
day,  i.  e.,  the  day  of  its  patron  saint,  attracts 
crowds  of  visitors,  some  with  the'hope  of  receiv- 
ing health  from  its  waters,  others  as  a  place  of 
'  •meeting  with  distant  friends;  but  the  great  ma- 
jority of  them  are  lured  into  the  neighbourhood 
by  a  love  of  idleness  and  dissipation.  The 
scene  therefore  is,  or  rather  was,  disgusting  to 

*  Vol.  L,  p.  280. 


EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  59 

a  degree  ;  but  the  evil  has  of  late  greatly  dimi- 
nished ;  and,  since  the  spread  of  temperance, 
there  being  neither  drinking  nor  fighting  in  the 
vicinity,  the  attendants  are  almost  entirely  limit- 
ed to  the  lioUday-keepers  and  the  credulous. 

At  St.  Ronague's  well,  a  few  miles  distant 
from  Cork,  where  numbers  had  assembled  to  re- 
ceive the  benefits  of  the  water,  the  authorities  I 
have  juvSt  referred  to  say,  "  two  old  women  were 
dipping  up  the  water  in  tin  cans,  and  exchang- 
ing supplies  for  small  coins  from  the  applicants; 
and  when  they  had  filled  their  bottles  (brought 
for  the  purpose),  and  knelt  at  the  rude  cross, 
and  repeated  a  few  '  paters'  and  '  aves'  before  it, 
they  departed  to  their  homes  in  peace  and  quiet- 
ness ;  the  only  objects  worthy  of  remark  con- 
nected with  the  ceremony  being  two  or  three 
blind  pilgrims,  who  stood  by  the  sides  of  the 
well  and  handed  to  each  comer  a  thin  pebble, 
with  which  he  signed  the  mark  of  the  cross 
upon  a  large  stone  at  the  well  head,  and  which 
frequent  rubbing  had  deeply  indented." 

The  holy  w-ell,  Tubber  Quan,  near  Carrick- 
on-Suir,  is  in  great  repute  for  the  many  mira- 
culous cures  effected  by  its  waters.  The  well, 
we  learn,*  is  dedicated  to  two  patron  saints,  St. 
Quan,  after  whom  it  takes  its  name,  and  St. 
Broorawn.  The  times  for  visitino^  it  are  the  last 
three  Sundays  in  June,  when  the  people  ima- 
gine the  saints  exert  their  sacred  influence  more 
particularly  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  apply 
for  their  assistance.     It  is  confidently  said,  and 

*  Ibid.,  p.  281. 


60  EARLY    MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY. 

firmly  believed,  that  at  this  period  the  two  saints 
appear  in  the  well  in  the  shape  of  two  small 
fishes,  of  the  trout  kind  ;  and  if  they  do  not  so 
appear,  that  no  cures  will  take  place.  The 
penitents  attending  on  these  occasions  ascend 
the  hill  barefoot,  kneel  by  the  stream  and  repeat 
a  number  of  paters  and  aves,  then  enter  it,  go 
through  the  stream  three  times,  at  a  slow  pace,.  , 
reciting  their  prayers.  They  then  go  on  the\ 
gravel-walk,  and  traverse  it  round  three  times' 
on  their  bare  knees,  often  till  the  blood  starts  in 
the  operation,  repeat  their  prayers,  then  traverse 
three  times  round  a  tree^oir  their  bare  knees, 
but  upon  the  grass.  Having  performed  these 
exercises  they  cut  off  locks  of  their  hair  and  tie 
them  on  the  branches  of  the  tree  as  specifics 
against  headache.  The  tree  is  a  great  object  of 
veneration,  and  presents  a  curious  spectacle, 
being  covered  all  over  with  human  hair. 

Bishop  Hall  records  a  miraculous  cure  effected 
on  a  man  by  washing  in  St.  Madern's  Well  in 
Cornwall,  to  which  he  was  three  times  ad- 
monished in  a  dream.  Father  Francis  gives  a 
particular  account  of  the  same  case.  The  holy 
w^ell  at  Basingwerk,  celebrated  by  Ranulf  Hig- 
den  in  his  Polychronicon,  was  a  spring  of  great 
celebrity  for  its  wonderful  cures.  Pilgrims  re- 
II  sorted  to  it  to  pay  their  devotions.     The  stones 

{j  about  it  were  marked  with  red  streaks,  being 

li  symbols  of  the  blood  of  St.  Wenefride  martyred 

It  by  Caradoc. 

"  Mr.  Robert  Kier,  of  Falkirk,  a  correspondent 

of  the  editor  of  the  '  Every  Day  Book,'  mentions 
the  visiting  of  certain  wells  supposed  to  have 


EARLY   MEDICINE    AND    SURGERY.  61 

healing  properties  in  the  month  of  May,  as 
among  the  superstitions  of  the  Scotch;  and  in 
the  Sessions  Records,  (June  12,  1628,)  it  is  re- 
ported that  a  number  of  persons  were  brought 
before  the  Kirk  Session  of  Falkirk,  accused  of 
going  to  Christ's  Well  on  the  Sundays  of  May 
to  seek  their  health,  and  the  whole  being  found 
guilty  were  sentenced  to  repent  "  in  linens" 
three  several  sabbaths.  In  1657  a  number  of 
persons  were  publicly  rebuked  for  visiting  the 
well  of  Airth.  The  custom  was  to  leave  a  piece 
of  money  and  a  napkin  at  the  well,  from  which 
they  took  a  can  of  the  water,  and  were  not  to 
speak  a  word  either  in  going  or  returning,  nor 
on  any  account  to  spill  a  drop  of  the  water. 
Notwithstanding  these  proceedings,  many  are 
known  to  have  lately  travelled  several  miles  into 
the  Highlands,  there  to  obtain  water  for  the  cure 
of  their  sick  cattle. 

The  relics  belonging-  to  saints  have  been  es- 
teemed  of  equal  efficiency  in  removing  diseases : 
the  belt  of  St.  Guthlac,  and  the  felt  of  St.  Tho- 
mas of  Lancaster,  were  sovereign  remedies  for 
the  headache,  whilst  the  penknife  and  boots  of 
Archbishop  Becket,  and  a  piece  of  his  shirt, 
were  found  most  admirably  to  aid  parturition. 


6 


TALISMANS. 

"  Old  wives  and  starres  are  his  counsellers :  his  night- 
spell  is  his  guard,  and  charms  his  physicians.  He  wears  Pa- 
racelsian  characters  for  the  toothache  ;  and  a  Httle  hallowed 
wax  is  his  antidote  for  all  evils." 

Bishop  Hall. 

^  ^  I  HAVE  already  alluded  to  the  probable  origin 
of  Talismans  from  the  belief  that  certain  sub- 
stances are  externally  impressed  with  the  cha- 
racters of  their  properties  and  virtues  by  the 
/influence  of  the  planetary  bodies.     A  talisman 
j  may,  in  generalterms,  be  defined  to  be  a  substance 
composed  of  certain  cabalislical  characters  en- 
graved on  stone,  metal,  or  other  material,  or  else 
written  on  slips  of  paper.     It  differs  from  an 
^rnulet  in  this  respect,  that  it  may  be  deposited 
^n  any  place,  or  carried  about  the  person  without 
losing  its  efficacy,  whilst  the  latter  requires  to 
bg  constantly  worn  about  the  individual.     Dr. 
Hyde*  quotes  a  Persian  writer,  who  defines  the 
Telesm  or  Talisman  to  be  "a  piece  of  art  com- 
pounded of  the  celestial  powers  and  elementary 
bodies,  appropriated  to  certain  figures  and  posi- 
tions, and  purposes,  and  times,  contrary  to  the 
usual  manner;"  and  Maimonidesf  remarks  that 

*  Syntagma,  a  Greg.  Sharpe,  vol.  i,,  p.  500. 
t  More  Nevochim,  part  i.,  cap.  i.,  p.  2. 


TALISMANS.  63 

images  or  idols  were  called  TzeJamhn,  not  from 
their  figure  or  fort;Q,  but  from  the  power  or  in- 
fluence which  was  supposed  to  reside  in  them. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Townley*  has  suggested  that  the 
first  construction  of  astroiogical  or  talis  manic 
images  probably  arose  from  the  desire  of  idola- 
ters to  represent  the  planets  during  their  absence 
from  the  horizoii^  so  that  they  might  at  all  times 
be  able  to  worship  either  the  planetary  body  it- 
self, or  its  representative.  The  astrologers, 
therefore, appropriated  particular  colours, metals, 
stones,  trees,  &c.,  to  the  respective  planets  they 
designed  to  represent,  and  constructed  them 
when  the  planets  were  in  their  exaltation,  and 
in  a  happy  conjunction  with  other  heavenly  bo- 
dies ;  after  which  they  attempted  by  incantatory 
rites,  to  inspire  the  fabricated  symbols  with  the  , 
power  and  influence  of  the  planets  themselves.f 
The  Hebrew  w^ord  for  talisman  (magan)  sig- 
nifies a  paper  or  other  material,  drawn  or  en- 
graved with  the  letters  composing  the  sacred 
name  Jehovah,  or  with  other  characters,  and 
improperly  applied  to  astrological  representa- 
tions, because,  like  the  letters  composing  "  The 
Incommunicable  Name,"  they  were  supposed 
to  serve  as  a  defence  against  sickness,  liohtning, 
and  tempest.!  It  was  a  common  practice  with 
magicians,  whenever  a  plague  or  other  great 
calamity  infested  a  country,  to  make  a  supposed 

*  The  Reasons  of  tlie  Laws  of  Moses,  p.  113. 

t  See  Pocockii  Spec.  Hist.  Arab.,  p.  140.  Hyde  de  Vet. 
Pers.  Rellg.,  cap.  v.,  p.  126.  Young  on  Idolatrous  Corrup- 
tions, vol.  i.,  p.  113. 

\  Gatfarel,  Curiositez  Inouyes,  cap.  vi.,  p.  106. 


64  TALISMANS. 

image  of  the  destroyer,  either  in  gold,  silver, 
clay,  wax,  &c.,  under  a  certain  contiguration  of 
the  heavens,  and  to  set  it  up  in  some  particular 
place  that  the  evil  might  be  stayed. 

Talisman  are  of  various  kinds.  Fosbrooke* 
lias  arrancjed  tliem  into  five  divisions  :  —  1.  The 
Astronomical,  with  celestial  signs  and  intelligible 
characters.  2.  The  ilf<7^?C(7/,  with  extraordinary 
figures,  superstitious  words,  and  names  of  un- 
known angels.  3.  The  Mixed,  of  celestial  signs 
and  barbarous  w^ords,  but  not  superstitious,  or 
with  names  of  angels.  4.  The  Sigilla  Planeta- 
rum,  composed  of  Hebrew  numeral  letters,  used 
by  astrologers  and  fortune-tellers.  5.  Hebrew 
Names  and  Cyharacters.  These  were  formed 
accord ino-  to  the  cabalistic  art. 

A  Hebrew  talisman  is  given  in  the  '  Gentle- 
man's Magazine,'!  wdiich  reads  :  "  It  overflowed 
—  he  did  cast  darts —  Shadai  is  all  sufficient  — 
his  hand  is  strong,  and  is  the  preserver  of  my 
life  in  all  its  variations." 

The  Phylacteries  (of  which  I  have  elsewdiere 
given  a  particular  account)|  ought  properly  to 
be  regarded  as  talismans,  rather  than  amulets. 
They  are  of  three  kinds,  and  used  for  the  head, 
the  arm,  and  also  attached  to  the  door-posts. 
Upon  these,  various  portions  of  Holy  Writ  are 

I'  inscribed,  and  they  are  directed  to  be  prepared 

I  in  a  peculiar  manner. 

|i  Amulets  in  the  fcrm  of  inscriptions  are  called 


*  Encyclopaedia  of  Antiquities,  vol.  i.,  p.  3.36. 

t  Vol.  Iviii.,  pp.  586,  695. 

:J:  Bibliotheca  Sussexiana,  vol.  i.,  part  i.,  pp.  xxxvi-viii. 


TALISMANS.  65 

CJiaracts.  From  Arnot's  'History  of  Edin- 
burgh,' we  learn  that  '*  on  all  the  old  houses 
still  existing  in  Edinburgh,  there  are  remains 
of  talismanic  or  cabalistical  characters,  which 
the  superstition  of  earlier  ages  had  caused  to 
be  engraved  on  their  fronts.  These  were 
generally  composed  of  some  text  of  Scripture  of 
the  name  of  God,  or,  perhaps,  of  an  emblematio 
representation  of  the  resurrection." 


AMULETS. 

"  When  time  shall  once  have  laid  his  lenient  hand  on  the 
passions  and  pursuits  of  the  present  moment,  they  too  shall 
lose  that  imaginary  value  which  heated  fancy  now  bestows 
upon  them."  Blair. 


In  Arabic   the  word  Amulet   means   ''that 
which  is  suspended."     It  has  been  said  to  be 
derived  from  the  barbarous  Latin  word  amule- 
tum,  from  amolior,  to  remove,  {a  and  moles,  a 
{  heap  or  mass,  to  heave  away,  to  drive  away,  to 

repel,)  also  from  amula,  a  small  vessel  with  lus- 
tral  water  in  it,  which  the  Romans  frequently 
carried  in  their  pockets  for  purification  and  ex- 
piation ;  and  according  to  Pliny,  many  were 
made  in  the  shape  of  little  vessels,  carved  out 
of  a  piece  of.  amber,  and  hung  about  the  chil- 
dren's necks.  But  there  is  little  doubt  of  its 
eastern  origin. 

A  belief  in  the  eflicacy  of  an  amulet  or  charm 
to  ward  off  diseases,  to  avert  contagion,  and  in- 
|[  fection  from  diseases  whose  origin  is  most  ob- 

►'  scure  and  whose  extent  is  most  indefinite,  to 

j[  cure  diseases  when  imbibed  or  existing,  to  pro- 

,1  tect  against  supernatural  agency,  the  evil  e\^e, 

y  magical  arts,  divination,  sorcery,  &c.,  has  pre- 

vailed from  a  very  early  time.  The  use  of 
amulets  was  common  among  the  Greeks  and 


AMULETS.  67 

tlie  Romans,  whose  amulets  were  principally 
formed  of  gems,  crowns  of  pearls,  necklaces  of 
coral,  shells,  &c.  The  Athletee  wore  amulets 
to  ensure  to  themselves  victory  :  they  were  sus- 
pended from  the  neck.  The  power  of  amulets 
was  in  former  times  considered  so  effectual  that 
Grose  tells  us  an  oath  was  administered  to  per- 
sons going  to  fight  a  legal  duel  "  that  they  had 
ne  charme  neherb  of  virtue."  St.  Chrysostom 
and  other  of  the  fathers  are  loud  in  their  con- 
demnation of  the  practice. 

In  its  composition  the  amulet  is  of  the  most 
varied  kinds ;  objects  selected  either  from  the 
animal,  the  vegetable,  or  the  mineral  kingdoms ; 
pieces  of  old  rags  or  garments,  scraps  of  writing 
in  legible  or  illegible  characters,  in  fact,  of  any- 
thing to  wdiich  any  superstitious  property  has 
been  considered  to  belong-.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
had  in  his  possession  one  of  these  pretended 
charms  taken  from  an  old  woman  who  was  said 
to  charm  and  injure  her  neighbours'  cattle.  It 
consisted  of  feathers,  parings  of  nails,  hair,  and 
such  like  trash,  wrapped  in  a  lump  of  clay.  The 
amulets  of  the  Chaldeans  and  Persians  were 
generally  made  in  a  cylindrical  form,  and  had 
by  their  figures  and  characters  an  astrological 
import,  and  it  is  not  improbable  but  that  they 
consisted  of  the  horoscope  of  the  possessor. 

"  Of  talismans  and  sigils  knew  the  power, 
And  carefully  watch'd  the  planetary  hour." 

Pope. 

Count  Caylus,  D' Olivier,  Millin,  and  other 


68  AMULETS. 

ingenious  antiquaries  have  looked  npon  the 
ancient  Babylonian  cylinders  as  amulets;  but 
Landseer*  has  shown  that,  according  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  engraved,  being  in 
intaglio,  they  were  well  fitted  to  be  used  as 
seals.  In  the  East,  generally,  the  amulet  con- 
sists of  certain  names  of  the  Deity,  verses  of  the 
Koran,  or  particular  passages  comj)ressed  into  a 
very  small  space,  rolled  up,  and  are  to  be  found 
concealed  in  the  shash  of  the  turban.  The 
Christians  wore  amulets  with  verses  selected 
from  the  Old  or  Now  Testament,  and  particu- 
larly from  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  The  amulets 
or  charms  called  grigris  by  the  African  priests 
are  of  a  similar  description.  A  considerable 
traffic  was  carried  on,  according  to  Barbot  and 
other  travellers,*  in  vending  these  pretended  pre- 
servatives against  thunderbolts  and  diseases,  to 
procure  many  wives  and  to  give  to  them  easy 
deliveries,  to  avert  shipwreck  or  slavery,  and  to 
secure  victory  in  battle.  One,  destined  to  the 
latter  purpose,  was  in  the  museum  of  Sir  Ashton 
Lever,  which  had  belonged  to  a  king  of  Brak, 
in  Senegal,  who,  however,  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  killed  in  battle  with  the  charm  upon  him. 
It  formed  a  fine  chaplet  for  the  head,  to  which 
it  was  attached  with  many-coloured  bands. 
The  rolled  paper  contained  within  it  had  the 
following  sentences  from  the  Koran  : 
*"  "  In  the  name  of  the  merciful  God  !  Pray  to 

j!|  God  through  our  Lord  Mohammed. 


I" 


I' 


,11 


^n  *  Sabrean  Researches,  p.  58. 

t  In   Churcliill's  Collection  of  Voyages,  vol.  v.,  pp.  60 
aud  104. 


AMULETS. 


69 


"All  that  exists  is  so  only  by  his  command. 
He  gives  life,  and  also  calls  sinners  to  an  ac- 
count. He  deprives  us  of  life  by  the  sole  power 
of  his  name  :  these  are  undeniable  truths.  He 
that  lives  owes  his  life  to  the  peculiar  clemency 
of  his  Lord,  who  by  his  providence  takes  care 
of  his  subsistence."  He  is  a  wise  prince  or 
governor." 

Other  orio-ris  have  been  found  to  contain  other 
parts  of  the  Koran. 

From  mere  sentences  or  arrangement  of  words 
peculiar  substances  came  to  be  employed,  and 
are  employed  even  to  this  day  ;  in  this  country 
sometimes  under  a  presumed  efficacy  or  virtue 
in  the  substance  itself,  free  of  any  superstitious 
spell  as  to  the  mode  of  its  application,  as  in  the 
use  of  camphor  worn  about  the  person  to  avert 
febrile  contagion,  anodyne  necklaces  to  assist  in 
dentition,  &c. 

Amulets  are  frequently  met  with  composed 
of  various  stones  carved  or  fashioned  into  a  par- 
ticular shape,  representing  an  animal  or  other 
object.  These,  singly  or  associated  together, 
are  strung  into  necklaces  and  worn  round  the 
neck,  wrist,  or  other  part  of  the  body.  The 
necklaces  so  commonly  found  on  the  Egyptian 
mummies  are  usually  composed  of  objects  hav- 
ing a  funereal  or  mythological  character  or  im- 
port, and  were  doubtless  used  as  amulets  to  pre- 
serve the  integrity  of  the  body  —  a  circumstance 
peculiarly  essential  with  the  Egyptians,  being 
in  accordance  with  their  system  of  theology. 

Precious  stones  were  often  employed  as  amu- 
lets ;   and  some,  not  content  to  wear  them  ex- 


70  AMULETS. 

ternally,  adopted  the  means  of  reducing  them 
to  powder,  and  taking  them  as  internal  reme- 
dies. Lapis  Armenus,  an  ochre  of  copper,  of  a 
dark  blue  colour,  and  Lapis  lazuli  (azure  stone), 
are  extolled  by  Alexander,  ^Etius,  Avicenna, 
and  Actuarius  as  sovereign  remedies  for  melan- 
choly wlien  taken  internally.  Butler  quotes 
from  Encelius,  who  says  that  the  garnet,  if 
hung  about  the  neck  or  taken  in  drink,  much 
assisteth  sorrrow  and  recreates  the  heart;  and 
the  chrysolite  is  described  as  the  friend  of  wis- 
l||  dom  and  the  enemy  to  folly.     Indiicit  sapie7itiam 

fugat  stultitiam.^     Renodeus  admires  precious 
I  stones  because  they  adorn  king's  crowns,  grace 

I,  the  fingers,  enrich  our  household  stuff,  defend 

I  us  from   enchantments,  preserve  health,   cure 

,)i  diseases,  drive  away  grief,  cares,  and  exhilarate 

•''  the  mind.      "Reuum    coronas  ornant,  dicjitos 

,  illustrant,  supellectilem  ditant,  e  fascino,  tuen- 

i;  tur,   morbis    medentur,  sanitatem    conservant, 

I  mortem  exhilarant,  tristitiam  pellunt."f 

II  "  Heliotropius  stauncheth  blood,  driveth  away 
Ij,                poisons,  preserveth  health  ;  yea,  and  some  write 

that  it  provoketh  raine,  and  darkeneth  the  sunne, 
I"  suffering  not  him  that  beareth  it  to  be  abused. "| 

|ti  "  A  topaze  healeth   the  lunaticke  person  of 

(*'  his  passion  of  lunacie."§ 

III  "Corneolus  (cornelian)  mitigateth  the  heate  of 
the  minde  and  qualifieth  malice,  it  stancheth 
bloodie  fluxes."  11 


(II 


.  *  [It  brings  wisdom  and  expels  folly.] 

'"'  t  Praefai.^ad  Lap.  Prec,  lib.  ii.,  sect.  2,  de  Mat.  Med. 

X  Reg.  Scot.  §  Ibid.  II  Ibid. 


AMULETS.  71 

"A  sapphire  preserveth  the  members  and 
maketh  them  livelie,  and  helpelli  agues  and 
gowts,  and  sufferetb  not  the  bearer  to  be  afraid  ; 
it  hath  virtue  against  venorae,  and  staieth  bleed- 
ing at  the  nose,  being  often  put  thereto."* 

Precious  metals  as  well  as  precious  stones, 
administered  internally,  are  of  renowned  effi- 
cacy.    Chaucer  says, 

"  For  gold  in  physick  is  a  cordial, 
Therefore  he  loved  gold  in  special." 

The  Mischna  permits  the  Jews  to  wear  amu- 
lets provided  they  have  been  found  efficacious 
in  at  least  three  cases  by  an  approved  person. 

Odd  numbersf  have  always  been  regarded  as 
of  serious  import.  They  often  form  charms  and 
are  applied  to  physic.  Ravenscroft,  in  his 
comedy  of  '  Mammamouchi,  or  the  Citizen 
turned  Gentleman,'  makes  Trickmore  as  a  phy- 
sician to  say,  "  Let  the  number  of  his  bleedings 
and  purgations  be  odd,  numero  Deus  impare 
gaudet.''X  Every  one  knows  that  the  seventh 
son  of  a  seventh  son  is  an  infallible  doctor.  "The 

*  Ibid. 

t  Amono-  my  extracts  from  ancient  writers,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing, but  do  not  recollect  w^hence  it  was  taken  :  "  Some 
philosophers  are  of  opinion  that  all  things  are  composed  of 
number,  prefer  the  odd  before  the  other,  and  attribute  to  it  a 
great  efficacy  and  perfection,  especially  in  matters  of  physic  : 
wherefore  it  is  that  many  doctors  prescribe  always  an  odd 
pill,  an  odd  draught,  or  drop  to  be  taken  by  their  patients. 
For  the  perfection  thereof  they  allege  these  following  num- 
bers :  as  7  Planets,  7  wonders  of  the  World,  9  Muses,  3 
Graces,  God  is  3  in  1,  &c." 

:f  [God  delights  in  an  odd  number.] 


73  AMULETS. 

seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  is  born  a  physi- 
cian;  having  an  intuitive  knovvledoe  of  the  art 
of  curing  all  disorders,  and  sometimes  the  faculty 
of  performing  wonderful  cures  by  touching 
only."*  M.  Thiersf  reasons  the  point :  "  Plu- 
sieurs  croyent  qu'en  France,  les  septiemes  gar- 
dens, nez  de  legitimes  mariages,  sans  que  la 
suitte  des  sept  ait,  este  interrompue  par  la  nais- 
sance  d'aucune  fille,  peuvent  aussi  guerir  des 
III  fievres  tierces,  des  fievres  quartes,  et  mesme 

des  ecrouelles,  apres  avoir  jeiine  trois  ou  neuf 
II  jours  avant  que  de  toucher  les  malades.     Mais 

ils  font  trop  de  fond  sur  le   nombre  septenaire, 
J,  en  atiribuant  au  septieme  garden,  preferablement 

u,;  a  tons  autres,  une  puissance  qu'il  y  a  autant  de 

ft  raison  d'attribuer  au  sixieme  ou  au  huitieme,  sur 

pi,  le  nombre  de  trois,  et  sur  cehiy  de  neuf,  pour  ne 

^  pas  s'engager  dans  la  superstition.    Joint  que  de 

f  trois  que  je  connois  de  ces  septiemes  gardens  il  y 

I,  en  a  deux  qui  ne  guerissent  de  rien,  et  que  le 

I  troisiemc  rn'a  avoue  de  bonne  foy,  qu'il  avoit  en 

f  autrefois  la  reputation  de  guerir  de  quantite  des 

L'  maux,  quoique  eneffet  il  n'ait  jamais  guery  d'au- 

cun,     C'est  pourquoy  Monsieur  du  Laurent  a 
j*!  grande  raison  derejetter  ce  pretendu  pouvoir,  et 

I,  de  la  mettre  au  rang  des  fables,  en  ce  qui  con- 

t  cerne  la  guerison  des  ecrouelles."$ 

l« 

f  *  MS.  Julius  F.  6,  Cotton  Library. 

t  Traite  des  Superstitions,  p.  436. 

X  [Many  believe,  in  France,  that  the  sevenths  sons  born  in 
lawful  marriage,  if  no  girl  comes  between,  can  cure  tertians, 
quartans-;  nnd  even  the  King's  evil,  provided  they  fast  three  or 
nine  days  before  touching  those  afflicted.  But  they  reckon  too 
much  on  the  seventh   number,  when  they  attribute  to  the 


AMULETS.  73 


Abraxas.  The  origin  of  this  word  is  obscure. 
It  denotes  a  power  presiding  over  365  others, 
and  corresponds  with  the  number  of  days  in  the 
year.  It  is  of  Egyptian  origin,  but  it  can  be 
technically  explained  by  certain  Greek  letters 
used  as  equivalents  for  numbers:  thus,  A  1, 
B  2,  P  100,  A  1,  3  60,  2  200,  which  make  365. 
It  is  spelt  in  this  way  by  all  the  Greek  fathers. 
Beausobre  derives  the  word  from  the  two  Greek 
w^ords  which  signify  "  Magnificent  Saviour," 
ao/>:f  and  s=t*.  It  formed  a  symbol  employed  by 
the  heresiarch  Basilides,  who  was  accused  by 
the  fathers  of  magic,  and  who  certainly  promul- 
gated many  superstitions.  His  abraxas  consisted 
of  a  small  figure  as  a  talisman,  which  he  re- 
garded as  the  representative  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Eons,  or  the  365  heavens,  or  rather  angels  be- 
longing to  these  heavens.  By  this  figure,  how- 
ever, the  Egyptians  had  previously  professed  to 
dispossess  evil  spirits  and  also  to  cure  diseases. 
It  is  therefore  borrowed  by  Basilides  of  these 
people.  Chifflet,  Montfaucon,  and  others  have 
figured  many  of  the  abraxas.  The  engraved 
gems  which  have  the  word  abraxas  impressed 
upon  them,  and  sometimes  also  a  symbol,  or  the 
latter  without  the  word,  are  called  abraxas,  and 


seventh  cbikl,  in  preference  to  all  the  rest,  a  power  which 
they  might  as  well  ascribe  to  the  sixth  or  eightli.  Of  three 
of  these  seventh  sons  that  I  know,  there  are  two  who  cure 
nobody,  and  the  third  has  confessed  to  me  that  he  once  en- 
joyed the  reputation  of  being  able  to  cure  numerous  diseases, 
although  he  had  never  cured  any.  Consequently,  M.  du  Lau- 
rent has  good  reason  to  reject  this  visionary  power,  and  place 
this  method  of  curing  the  Iving's  evil  in  the  rank  of  fables.] 
7 


/'4  AMULETS. 

used  as  amulets  against  diseases.  The  learned 
Lardner*  treats  extensively  on  this  subject. 
He  particularly  notices  the  extraordinary  collec- 
tion given  by  Montfaucon ;  and  he  concludes 
that  they  are  "  too  numerous,  too  costly,  and  too 
heathenish  to  be  remains  of  any  Christian  sect." 
The  materials  are  costly,  and  they  have  figures 
of  the  cock,  dog,  lion,  ape,  sphynx,  Isis,  Osiris, 
Serapis,  Harpocrates,  Canopus,  the  scarabseus, 
'I!  &c.     St.  Jerome  makes  abraxas  to  be  the  same 

""  as  mythras,  which  is  a  Persian  deity  and  known 

l||  to  be  the  sun.     Abraxas  may  therefore  be  con- 

*"'  sidered  as  presiding  over  the  365  heavens,  as 

I'  the  sun  is  the  ruler  of  the  day,  and  the   year 

|!  consists  of  365  days.     Apollo  and  the  sun  in 

ancient  mythology  are  the  same,  and  Apollo 
was  the  god  of  physic  or  healing — the  sense  in 
which  these  abraxsei  were  employed. 

Peculiar  arrangements  of  words  and  letters, 
as  well  as  numbers,  also  constituted  amulets. 

Abracadabra  or  Abrasadabra.     This  ma- 
gical word  is  recommended  on  the  authority  of 
1^,  Serenus  Samonicus,  a  physician  in  the  reign  of 

Caracalla,  as  a  charm  or  amulet   to  cure  ague 
«i  and  other  diseases : 

"  Mortiferum  magis  est,  quod  Grsecis  hemitritceumt 
Vulgatur  verbis,  hoc  nostra  dicere  lingua 


*  Works,  vol.  ix.,  pp.  290-364. 

t  [What  the  Greeks  call  hemitritaeum  (ague)  is  still  more 
fatal.  We  have  no  word  for  it  in  our  (the  Latin)  language. 
Write  the  word  Abracatabra  on  a  slip  of  paper,  cutting  off  the 
first  and  last  letters  in  every  succeeding  line  till  the  word 
ends  in  a  point.     Remember  to  fasten  it  round  your  neck,  &c.] 


AMULETS.  75 

Non  potuere  ulli,  puto,  nee  voluere  parentes. 
Inscribis  charta;,  quod  dicilur  Abracatabra, 
Saepius  et  subter  repetis,  sed  detrahe  summam, 
Et  magis  atque  magis  desint  elementa  figuris 
Singula,  quae  semper  rapies,  et  csetera  figes, 
Donee  in  angustum  rediu;atur  litera  conum 
His  lino  nexis  coUum  redimire  memento,"  &c.* 

The  letters  comprising  Abracadabra  are  to  be 
so  written,  that  reading  from  the  apex  on  the 
right  and  up  the  left  side,  the  same  word  will 
be  given  as  at  the  top  : 

ABRACADABRA 

BRACADABR 

RACADAB 

ACADA 

CAD 

A 


or  thus 


ABRACATABRA 

ABRACATABR 

ABRACATAB 

ABRACATA 

ABRACAT 

ABRACA 

■ ABRAC 

ABRA 

ABR 

AB 

A 


Julius  Africanus  says,  that  pronouncing  the 

*  Quint.  Se.  Samon.  de  Medic.  Tiguri,  1540,  cap.  li., 
p.  224. 


^ 

till 


76  AMULETS. 


word  in  the  same  manner  will  be  equally  effica- 
cious as  writing  it.  Abracadabra  was  a  god,  and 
worshipped  as  such  by  the  Tyrians.  The  Jews 
attributed  an  equal  virtue  to  the  word  Aracalan 
employed  in  the  same  way. 


CHARMS. 

"'  Such  medicines  are  to  be  exploded  that  consist  of  words, 
characters,  spells,  and  charms,  which  can  do  no  good  at  all, 
but  out  of  a  strong  conceit,  as  Pomponatius  proves  ;  or  the 
Devil's  policy,  who  is  the  first  founder  and  teacher  of  them." 

BUKTON. 

*  Charms  and  Amulets  have  a  similar  signifi- 
)| cation  and  imply  a  similarity  of  power,  the  dif- 
ference consisting  rather  in  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  severally  used,  than  in  any  difference 
of  their  nature.  Amulets  were  to  be  suspended 
when  employed,  charms  are  not  necessarily  sub- 
jected to  such  a  method  of  application.  The 
word  charm  is^derived  from  the  Latin  word 
Carmen,  signifying  a  verse  in  which  the  spells 
■'were  very  comnronlf  but  not  uniformly  written, 
and  supposed  tSTwLik  their  magical  power! 
Some  of  these  come  properly  under  the  head  of 
exorcism  or  incantations,  as  that  most  ancient 
one  handed  down  to  us  by  Catothe  Censor,  who 
gives  the  following  for  the  reduction  of  a  dis- 
located  limb : 

"  Luxum  si  quod  esthaccantione  sanum  fiet, 
harundinem  prende  tibi  viridem  p.  mi.  aut  v 
longam.  JNIediam  diffinde,  et  duo  homines 
teneant  ad  coxendices.  Incipe  cantare  in  alio 
S.  F.  MoTAS  VAETA,  Daries  Dardaries  Asta- 
TARiES  DissuNAPiTURj  usque  dum  coeant.  Fer- 
7* 


m  ' 


^ 


78  CHARMS. 

rum  insuper  jactato  ubi  coierint,  et  altera  alte- 
ram tetigerit,  id  maiiiT-  prencle,  et  dextra  sinistra 
prfecide.  Ad  luxum,  aut  ad  fractiiram  alliga, 
sanum  fiet,  et  tameii  quotidie  cantato  in  alio  S. 
F.  vel  luxato.     Vel  hoc  modo,  huat  hanat  ista 

PISTA    SISTA,    DOMIABO    DAMNAUSTRA,    et    luxatO. 

Vel  hoc  modo,  Huat  haut  haut  ista  sis  tar 

SIS  ARDAUNABON  DAMNAUSTRA."*  f 

There  is  scarcely  a  disease  for  whiiilL^a  charm 
has  not  been  given,  and  I  shall  presently  narrate 
some  of  the  principal  ones ;  and  by  classing  them 
according  to  the  disorders  for  which  they  have, 
been  recommended  and  employed,  it  will  be  seen 
that  thej^  ^pplj  principally  to  derangements  of 
the  nervous  svstem,  or  to  those  diseases  which 
are  periodical  in  their  character,  and  known  by 
physicians  to  be  especially  subject  to  the  in- 
liuence  of  the  passions  and  the  emotions  of  the 
mind  in  general. 

But  it  is  not  only  to  diseases  of  the  body  and 
mind  to  which  they   were  directed  to  be  ap-  . 
plied  ;  charms  were  also  empWed  to  avert  evil^ 
and  counteract  supposed  ma^gnant influences.' 

Thus  amon^  the  natives  of  the  Eastern 
Islands,  an  opinion  long  prevailed  that  b}^  the 
use  of  amulets,  the  wearer  would  be  rendered 


*  De  Re  Ruytica,  ed.  Schneider!.     Lips.  1794.    clx.-lxi. 

f  [A  dislocation  may  be  cured  by  this  charm.  Take  a 
reed  four  or  five  feet  long ;  cut  it  in  the  middle,  and  let  two 
men  hold  the  points  towards  each  other  for  insertion.  While 
this  is  doing,  repeat  these  words :  "  In  alio  S.  F.  Mo- 
TAS  ....  &c.  Now  jerk  apiece  of  iron  upon  the  reeds  at  their 
juncture,  and  cut  right  and  left.  Bind  them  to  the  dislocation 
or  fracture,  and  it  will  effect  a  cure,  &c.] 


I 


CHARMS.  79 

invulnerable.  De  Barros,  the  historian,  says, 
that  the  Portuguese  in  vain  attempted  todestro}' 
a  Malay  so  long  as  he  wore  a  bracelet  contain- 
inof  a  bone  set  in  grold,  which  rendered  him 
proof  against  their  swords.  This  amulet  was 
afterwards  transmitted  to  the  Viceroy  Affonso 
d'Alboquerque,  as  a  valuable  present. 

In  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  we  read  that  in 
an  attempt  by  Kublai  Khan  to  make  a  conquest 
of  the  island  of  Zipangu,  a  jealousy  arose  be- 
tween the  two  commanders  of  the  exhibition, 
which  led  to  an  order  for  putting  the  whole  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  garrison  to  the  sword  ; 
and  that  in  obedience  thereto,  the  heads  of  all 
were  cut  otf,  excepting  of  eight  persons,  who, 
b}'"  the  efficac}^  of  a  diabolical  charm,  consisting 
of  a  jewel  or  amulet  introduced  into  the  right 
arm,  between  the  skin  and  the  flesh,  were  ren- 
dered secure  from  the  effects  of  iron,  either  to 
kill  or  wound.  Upon  this  discovery  being 
made,  they  were  beaten  with  a  heav}^  wooden 
club,  and  presently  died.* 

The  practice  of  physic  among  the  Sumatrans 
is  carried  on  by  old  men  and  women,  and  they 
generally  procure  a  small  sum  in  advance  from 
their  patients,  under  the  pretext  of  purchasing 
charms.  These  are  hung  about  the  necks  of 
children,  and  also  worn  by  persons  wdio  are  ex- 
posed to  risk.  They  consist  of  long  narrow  scrolls 
of  paper  filled  with  incoherent  scraps  of  verse, 
which  are  separated  from  each  other  by  fanciful 

» 

*  Travels  of  Marco  Polo,  translated   by  "^V.   ]Marsden. 
Lond.  1818,  4to.,  p.  570. 


> 


so  CHARMS. 

drawings.  Mr.  Marsden  accidentally  met  with 
one  given  for  the  ague.  It  was  as  follows : 
"  (Sign  of  the  cross.)  When  Christ  saw  the  cross 
he  trembled  and  shaked :  and  they  said  unto  him, 
hast  thou  the  ague?  and  he  said  unto  them,  I 
have  neither  ague  nor  fever;  and  whosoever 
bears  these  words,  either  in  writing  or  in  mind^ 
shall  never  be  troubled  with  ague  or  fever.  So 
help  thy  servants,  0  Lord,  who  put  their  trust 
in  thee  !"* 

In  the  account  of  Songei-tenang  countr}^  Mr. 
Marsden  relates  that  the  people  commonly  carry 
charms  about  their  persons  to  preserve  them 
from  accidents  ;  one  of  which,  printed  at  Batavia 
or  Samarang  in  Java  in  Dutch,  Portuguese,  and 
French,  was  shown  to  him.  It  purported  that 
the  writer  was  acquainted  with  the  occult 
sciences,  and  that  whoever  possessed  one  of  the 
papers  impressed  with  his  mark  (which  was 
the  figure  of  a  hand  with  the  thumb  and  fingers 
extended)  was  invulnerable  and  free  from  all 
kinds  of  harm.f 

William  Jackson,  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a 
proscribed  smuggler,  was  tried  for  and  convicted 
of  murder  at  Chichester,  in  January  1748-9,  and 
sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon  him,  and  he 
w^as  directed  to  be  hung  in  chains.  He  how- 
ever died  in  oraol  a  few  hours  after  the  sentence 
had  been  delivered.  Upon  being  measured  for 
his  chain?,  in  a  linen  purse  upon  his  person  was 
found  the  following  charm  : 

*  *  Hist,  of  Sumatra,  p,  189.. 

'  t  Ibid.,  p.  323. 


CHARMS.  81 

"  Sancti  tres  Re^es 
Gaspar,  Melchior,  Balthasar, 
Orate  pro  nobis  nunc  et  in  hora 
Mortis  nostrse."* 

"  Ces  billets  ont  touche  aux  trois  testes  de  S. 
S.  Roys  a  Cologne.  lis  sontpour  les  voyagers, 
contre  les  malheurs  de  cliemins,  maux  de  teste, 
mal-caduque,  iievres,  sorceilerie,  toute  sorte  de 
malefice,  mort  subite."t  % 

The  Orientals  generally  have  a  belief  in  the 
influence  of  what  is  called  "The  Evil  Eye,"  to 
the  operation  of  which  children  are  supposed  to 
be  the  most  susceptible  :  to  avert  the  conse- 
quences, they  are  furnished  with  charnns  of 
various  kinds.  As  an  anaulet  against  Fascina- 
tion in  general,  but  more  particularly  against 
the  Evil  Eye,  Mr.  Douce  tells  us§  that  certain 
figures  in  bronze,  coral,  ivory,  &c.,  representing 
a  closed  hand  with  the  thumb  thrust  out  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  finf^ers  called  \k\Q  jig, 
were  common.  In  Henry  IV.,  Part  ii.,  Pistol 
says  : 

"  When  Pistol  lies,  do  this  ;  and  fig  me,  like 
The  bragging  Spaniard." 

"  Ye  three  sacred  kings 
^Gaspar,  Melchior,  Balthusar, 
Pray  for  us  now,  and  in  the  hour 
Of  our  death, 
t  Gents.  Mag.,  vol.  xix.,  p.  88.  •• 

\  [These  papers  are  impressed  three  times  with  the  mark 
of  S.  S.  Royas  of  Cologne.  They  are  intended  for  travellers, 
against  the  dangers  of  travelling,  epilepsy,  fevers,  witchcraft, 
all  kinds  of  spells,  and  sudden  death.]  ^ 

§  Illustrations  of  Shakspeare,  vol.  i.,  p.  493. 


S2  CHARMS. 

Coral  is  a  substance  which  was  generally  con- 
sidered to  possess  the  power  of  keeping  off  evil 
spirits  and  averting  the  baneful  consequences  of 
the  Evil  Eye.«^Paracelsus  recommends  it  to  be 
worn  round  the  necks  of  children  as  a  remedy 
against  fits,  sorcery,  charms,  and  poisons. •Levi- 
nus  Lemnius  says,  "  Corall  bound  to  the  neck 
takes  off  turbulent  dreams  and  allays  the  nightly 
fears  of  children.  It  preserveth  such  as  bear  it 
from  fascination  or  bewitchinor,  and  in  this  re- 
spect  IS  hanged  about  children's  necks."  The 
bells  affixed  to  the  coral  toy  with  which  children 
used  formerly  to  be  generally  arrayed,  have  been 
conjectured  to  have  been  attached  for  the  same 
purpose,  as  the  ringing  or  rattling  of  them  have 
been  esteemed  inimical  to  witches,  sorcerers,  &c. 

Charms  and  incantations  w^ere  common  among 
the  Druids  for  the  cure  of  disease.  According 
to  Lord  Northampton*  the  charm  used  by 
Mother  Joane  of  Stowe  to  cure  beastes,  or  men 
and  women  from  diseases,  was  as  follows  : 

"  Our  Lord  was  the  fyrst  Man, 
That  ever  thorne  prick't  upon  : 
It  never  blysted  nor  it  never  belted. 
And  I  pray  God,  nor  this  not  may."        _ 

^Rags,  old  clothes,  pins  and  needlesflH^- 
quent  objects  employed  as  charms.**  TiMprre 
prevalent  in  the  east  as  well  as  in  Europe  and 
■  England. ••'In  Persia  they  are  common,  and 
there  exists  a  general  superstition  that  to  relieve 
disease  or  accident,  the  patient  has  only  to  de- 

*  Defensative  against  the  Poyson  of  supposed  Prophecies. 
Lond.  1583,  4to. 


CHARMS.  83 

posit  a  rag  on  certain  bushes,  and  from  the  same 
spot  to  take  another  which  lias  been  previously 
left  from  the  same  motive  by  a  former  sufferer.iB# 
The  bushes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Hoty 
Wells  attest  the  same  practice.  In  Grand  Cairo, 
pieces  of  garments  that  have  touched  the  pilgrim 
camel,  which  carries  the  Grand  Seignior's  an- 
nual present,  are  preserved  with  great  veneration, 
and  when  any  of  their  families  lie  dangerously 
ill,  they  lay  these  things  upon  their  bodies  as 
infallible  remedies.! 

Having  thus  far  treated  of  Talismans,  Amu- 
lets, and  Charms  in  general,  and  their  employ- 
ment in  the  cure  of  diseases  and  the  averting  of 
danger,  I  shall  now  proceed  to  specify  some  of 
the  particular  disorders  to  which  they  have  been 
generally  considered  as  most  applicable.,.— :s*  "Cfl   SLf\ 

Epilepsij,  Convulsions,  and  Fits.     The  Ekler^ 
Tree,  to  the  history  of  which  many  superstitions^"^ 
belong,  forms  a  charm  for  a  variety  of  diseases,  Ul 
but  has  been  especially  employed  in  epilepsy- — 1 
In  Blochwick's  '  Anatomic  of  the  Elder,'  trans- 
lated and  published,  Lond.  1655,  p.  52,  we  read 
of  an  amulet  made  of  the  elder  growing  on  a 
Sallow  :  "  If  in  the  month  of  October,  a  little 
before  the  full  moon,  you  pluck  a  twig  of  the 
elder,  and  cut  the  cane  that  is  betwixt  two  of  its 
knees,  or  knots,  in  nine  pieces,  and  these  pieces 
being  bound  in  a  piece  of  linen,  be  in  a  thread, 
so  hung  about  the   neck,  that  they  touch  the 
spoon  of  the  heart,  or  the  sw^ord-formed  carti- 

*  Morier's  Journey  to  Persia,  p.  230. 
t  Haynes's  LeUers,  No.  7,  p.  90. 


84  CHARMS. 

lage ;  and  that  they  may  stay  more  firmly  in 
that  place,  they  are  to  be  bound  thereon  with  a 
♦linen  or  silken  roller  wrapt  about  the  body,  till 
the  thread  break  of  itself.  The  thread  being 
broken  and  the  roller  removed,  the  amulet  is  not 
at  all  to  be  touched  with  bare  hands,  but  it 
ought  to  be  taken  hold  on  by  some  instrument 
and  buried  in  a  place  that  nobody  may  touch 
it." 

Some  hang  a  cross  made  of  the  elder  and  the 
sallow,  mutually  inwrapping  one  another  about 
the  children's  neck."* 
rp  "  Dr.  Kirton  saw  a  fellow  presently  removed 

from  a  paroxysm  of  the  falling  sickness,  by  cut- 
ting off  some  of  his  hair,  and  putting  it  into  his 

Jiand."t 

f^,  I;i  father  Jerom  MeroUade  Sorrento's  'Voyage 
to  Congo,' J  he  mentions  the  foot  of  the  elk  as  a 

*  certain  remedy  against  epilepsy.  The  way  to 
find  out  the  foot  in  which  this  virtue  lies,  he 
says,  is  to  "knock  the  beast  down,  when  he 
will  immediately  lift  up  that  leg  which  is  most 
efficacious  to  scratch  his  ear.  Then  you  must 
be  ready  with  a  sharp  scymitar  to  lop  off  the 
medicinal  limb,  and  you  shall  find  an  infallible 
remedy  against  the  falling  sickness  treasured  up 
in  his  claws." 

Among  the  Indians  and  Norwegians  and  the 
other  northern  nations,  the  hoof  of  the  elk  is  re- 
garded as   a  sovereign  cure  for  the  epilepsy, 

*  Blochwick,  p.  54. 

t  Skippon's  Account  of  a  Journey  in  the  Low  Countries. 
See  Churchill's  Collection,  vol.  vi.,  p.  656. 
I  Churchill,  vol.  i.,  p.  536. 


CHARMS.  86 

The  person  afflicted  must  apply  it  to  his  heart, 
hold  it  in  his  left  hand,  and  rub  his  ear  with  it. 

Rings  composed  of  different  substances  hav.e. 
been  commonly  employed  for  superstitious  pur- 
poses. Thus,  in  Berkshire,  Brand*  acquaints 
us  that  a  ring  made  from  a  piece  of  silver  col- 
lected at  the  communion,  is  a  cure  for  convul- 
sions and  fits  of  every  land.  If  collected  on 
Easter  Sunday,  its  efficacy  is  greatly  increased. 
Silver  is  not  necessary  in  Devonshire  ;  in  that 
county  they  prefer  a  ring  made  of  three  nails  or 
screws  that  have  been  used  to  fasten  a  coffin, 
and  that  have  been  dug  out  of  the  churchyard. 
In  the  '  Gentleman's  ^Magazine'  for  1794,  we 
are  told  that  a  silver  ring  will  cure  fits,  which 
is  made  of  five  sixpences,  collected  from  five 
diflferent  bachelors,  to  be  conveyed  by  the  hand- 
of  a  bachelor  to  a  smith  that  is  a  bachelor. 
None  of  the  persons  who  gave  the  sixpences 
are  to  know  for  what  purpose,  or  to  whom  they 
gave  them. 

The  '  London  Medical  and  Physical  Journal' 
for  1815,  notices  a  charm  successfully  employed 
in. the  cure  of  epilepsy,  after  the  failure  of  various 
medical  means.  It"' consisted  of  a  silver  ring 
contributed  by  twelve  young  women,  and  was 
constantly  worn  on  one  of  the  patient's  fingers. 

Luptonf  says  "a  piece  of  a  child's  navel- 
string  borne  in  a  ring^  is  good  against  the  falling 
sickness,  the  pains  of  the  head,  and  the  collick."- 

Hysteria.     Monardes  mentions  a  stone  to  re- 

*  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.,  p.  598. 
•j-  Book  of  Notable  Things,  p.  92. 

8 


S&  CHARMS. 

lieve  hysterical  affections:  "Cam  uteri  suffo-' 

cationem    imminentem    prcesentiunt,    adhibito 

,  lipide   levaiitur,   et   si   eum    perpetuo   gestant 

(hysterici)  nunquam  simili  n"iorbo  corripiiintur, 

exempla  hujusmodi  faciunt^  lit  his  rebus  fidem 

ad  hi  beam."* 

^         Chorea  Sancti  Viti.     There  are  many  charms 

'•'        against  this  disease,  but  none  so  etiectual  as  an 

application  to  the  saint.     In   the  translation  of 

Naogeorgus,  Barnabe  Googe  says  : 

"  The  nexte  is  Vitus  sodde  in  oyle,  before  whose  ymage 
faire 

Both  men  and  women  brina;ins  hennes  for  offrincj  doe  re- 
paire  : 

The  cause  whereof  I  doe  not  know,  I  thinke,  for  some  dis- 
ease 

VVhich  he  is  thought  to  drive  away  from  such  as  him  dee 
please."  (Fol.  54  b.) 

0 

Madness.  Borlase  noticesf  a  very  singular 
method  of  curing  madness,  mentioned  by  Carew, 
in  the  parish  of  Altarnum  —  "to  place  the  dis- 
ordered in  mind  on  the  brink  of  a  square  pool, 
iilled  with  water  from  St.  Nun's  well.  The 
patient,  having  no  intimation  of  what  was  in- 
tended, was,  by  a  sudden  blow  on  the  breast, 
tumbled  into  the  pool,  where  he  was  tossed  up 
and  down  by  some  persons  of  superior  strength 
till,   being   quite  debilitated,  his   fury   forsook 

*  [When  hysterical  persons  feel  an  attack  coming  on,  they 
may  be  relieved  by  a  stone,  which  will  prevent,  if  constantly 
worn  about  the  person,  any  subsequent  attack.  From  my 
knowledge  of  cases  of  this  kind,  I  attach  credit  to  this  amulet.] 

t  Natural  History  of  Cornwall,  p.  302. 


\\ 


CHARMS.  87 

Inm  ;  he  was  then  carried  to  church,  and  certain 
masses  were  suntx  over  him.  The  Cornish  call 
this  immersion  hoossemiing  ;  from  bauzi  or  bid- 
hyzi  in  the  Cornu-British  and  Armoric,  signi- 
fying to  dip  or  drown."  Sir  Walter  Scott  no- 
tices a  practice  in  Perthshire,  where  several 
V  wells  and  springs  are  dedicated  to  St.  Fillan, 
and  are  places  of  pilgrimage  and  offerings,  even 
among  the  Protestants  : 

"  Thence  to  Saint  Fillan's  blessed  well, 
Whose  spring  can  frenzied  dreams  dispel, 
And  the  crazed  brain  restore." 

(^Marmion,  p.  52.) 

These  wells,  the  poet  tells  us,  ''  are  held 
powerful  in  cases  of  madness  ;  and,  in  cases  of 
very  late  occurrence,  lunatics  have  been  left  all 
night  bound  to  the  holy  stone,  in  confidence 
that  the  saint  would  come  and  unloose  them 
before  morning."  Casting  mad  people  into  the 
sea,  or  immersing  them  in  water  until  nigh 
drowned,  have  been  recommended  by  high 
medical  authorities  as  a  means  of  cure.  Boer- 
haave  has  an  aphorism  (1123)  to  this  effect: 
"  Pra3cipitatio  in  mare,  submersio  in  eo  conti- 
nuata  quarndiu  ferre  potest  princeps  remedium 
est." 

Palsy,  Sciatica,  and  Lameness.  Paracelsus* 
had  a  ring  made  of  a  variety  of  metallic  sub- 
stances, wdiich  he  called  electrum.  He  says 
that  rings  composed  of  this  metal  would  prevent 
the.  wearers  from  having  either  the  cramp,  palsy, 

*  In  Arehidox.  Magic,  lib. 


88 


CHARMS. 


apoplexy,  epilepsy,  or  any  pain.  If  the  ring  be 
put  on  during  an  epileptic  fit  it  would  imme- 
diately assuage  the  disease  and  terminate 
the  fit. 

Sleeping  on  stones,  on  a  particular  night,  is 
a  method  of  curing  lameness  practised  in  Corn- 
wall. *- 

The  '  Exmoor  Scolding'  acquaints  us  that  the 
disease  called  sciatica  is  known  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Exmoor,  in  Devonshire,  by  the  ap- 
pellation of  '  boneshave  ;'  and  that  the  inhabi- 
tants, when  affected  with  this  complaint,  resort 
to  the  use  of  a  charm  to  be  relieved.  The 
patient,  it  is  said,  must  lie  upon  his  back,  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  or  brook  of  water,  with  a 
straight  staff  by  his  side,  between  him  and  the 
water,  and  must  have  the  following  words  re- 
peated over  him : 


"  Boneshave  right, 
Boneshave  straight, 
As  the  vvater  runs  by  the  stave, 
Good  for  boneshave." 

Headache.  "  A  halter  wherewith  any  one  has 
been  hanged,  if  tied  about  the  head,  will  cure 
the  headache.  Moss  growing  upon  a  human 
skull,  if  dried  and  powdered,  and  taken  assnufF, 
is  no  less  efficacious."f 

Toothache.  A  nail  driven  into  an  oak  tree  is 
reported  to  be  a  cure  for  this  pain. 

Plague.  Pestilential  diseases  have  always 
been  regarded  as  punishments  inflicted  on  man- 


*  Borlase,  p.  138. 


t  Grose. 


CHARMS.  89 

kind  for  offences  and  wickedness;  and  it  is  not ^ 
astonishing,  therefore,  to  find  that  amulets  and 
charms  have  been  prodigally  used  to  avert  them.^ 
Astrologers  attributed  the  plague  to  a  conjunc- 
tion of  Saturn  and  Jupiter  in  Sagittarius,  on  the 
lOtli  of  October,  or  to  a  conjunction  of  Saturn 
and  INIars  in  the  same  constellation,  on  the  12th 
of  November.    Burton  makes  the  most  generous 
melancholy,  as  that  of  Augustus,  to  come  from 
the  conjunction  of  Saturn  and  Jupiter  in  Libra; 
the  bad,  as  that  of  Cataline,  from  the  meetinsr 
of  Saturn  and  the  moon  in  Scorpio.* — Pouque- 
ville,  in  his  '  Travels  in  the  Morea,'  gives  an 
interesting  account  of  the  plague  as  it  appeared 
at  Constantinople.     The  obscurity  of  its  nature 
and  the  ravages  of  its  attacks   have  not  un- 
naturally given  rise  to  a  belief  in  its  being  an 
emanation   of  the   celestial  vengeance.      The 
natives,  we  are  told,  personified  it  thus:  "  Tlie 
evil  spirit,  or  cacodaimon,  has  been  seen  to  glide 
alonor  their  roofs.     No  one  dares  to  doubt  the 
assertion.     He  is  a  decrepit  object,  covered  with 
funeral  shreds,  and  has  been  heard   to  call  by 
their  names  those  whom  he  wished  to  cut  off 
from   the   number  of  the   living.      Nocturnal 
music  and  murmuring  voices  have  been  heard 
in  the  air  in  the  darkest  nights,  and  phantoms 
have  been  seen  moving  in  solitary  places  near 
the  cemeteries.     Strans-e  do^s  have  howled  in 
a  dismal  manner,  and  their  voices  have  been 
terrifically  re-echoed  along  the  deserted  streets. 
Thus  observed  to  me  an  inhabitant  of  Naupli : 

*  See  Melanctlion  Lib.  de  Anima,  cap.  de  Humorib. 
8* 


90  CHARMS. 

'  You  must  take  care  not  to  answer  if  you  hear 
yourself  called  in  the  night ;  you  will  sometimes 
be  attracted  by  symphonies  —  do  not  listen  to 
them,  but  cover  yourself  over  in  the  bed,  for  it 
is  the  decrepit  demon  —  that  is,  the  plague  — 
which  knocks  at  your  door." 

Mr.  Jackson,  consul  at  Mogodor,  in  his  '  Tra- 
vels in  Africa,'  gives  us  an  account  of  the  plague 
which  depopulated  West  Barbary  in  1799-1800, 
and  says  that  the  Mohammedans,  who  are  pre- 
destinarians  and  believe  in  the  existence  of 
spirits,  devils,  &c.,  regard  the  plague  as  a  good 
or  blessing  sent  from  God  to  clear  the  world  of 
a  superfluous  population  ;  that  no  medicine  or 
precaution  can  cure  or  prevent  it ;  that  every 
one  who  is  to  be  a  victim  to  it  is  [mktiibe)  re- 
corded in  the  book  of  fate  ;  that  there  are  certain 
genii  who  preside  over  the  fate  of  men,  and  who 
sometimes  discover  themselves  in  various  forms, 
havinor  often  leo^s  similar  to  those  of  fowls;  that 
these  genii  are  armed  with  arrows  ;  that  when 
a  person  is  attacked  by  the  plague,  which  is 
called  in  Arabic  Tamer,  or  the  destiny  or  decree, 
he  is  shot  by  one  of  these  genii,  and  the  sensa- 
tion of  the  invisible  wound  is  similar  to  that 
from  a  musket-ball ;  hence  the  universal  appli- 
cation of  M'droh  to  a  person  afflicted  with  the 
plague,  i.  e.,  he  is  shot,  and  if  he  die  iifah  ame- 
?-2/A,  his  destiny  is  completed  or  terminated  — 
in  this  world.  Mr.  Jackson  says  he  scarcelv 
ever  yet  saw  the  Mooselmin  who  did  not  affirm 
that  he  had,  at  some  time  of  his  life,  seen  the.se 
genii,  and  they  often,  they  say,  appear  in  rivers. 

Fear,  he  observes,  had  an  extraordinary  effect 


CHARMS.  91 

in  disposing  the  body  to  receive  the  infection; 
and  those  who  were  subject  thereto  invariably 
caught  the  mahidy,  which  was  for  the  most  part 
fatal. 

During  the  severe  visitation  of  the  plague  in" 
London  amulets  composed  of  arsenic  were  very 
commonly  worn  in  the  region  of  the  heart,  upon 
the  principle  that  one  poison  v/ould  drive  out  or 
prevent  the  entry  of  another.  Large  quantities 
of  arsenic  were  imported  into  London  for  this 
purpose.  Dr.  Henry  wrote  against  them  as' 
"dangerous  and  hurtful,  if  not  pernitious,  to 
those  who  weare  them."* 

Quills  of  quicksilver  were  commonly  worn 
about  the  ueck  as  a  preservative  against  the 
plague.  The  powder  of  toad  was  employed  in 
a  similar  way.  Pope  Adrian  is  reported  never 
to  have  been  without  it.  The  ingredients 
forming  his  amulet  were  dried  toad,  arsenic, 
tormentil,  pearl,  coral,  hyacinth,  smarag,  and 
trao-acanth.  Amons  the  Harleian  MSS.  is  a 
letter  from  Lord  Chancellor  Hatton  to  Sir  Tho- 
mas Smith,  written  at  the  time  of  an  alarming 
epidemic.  He  writes  thus:  "I  am  likewise 
bold  to  recommend  mv  most  humble  duty  to 
our  dear  mistress  (Queen  Elizabeth)  by  this 
LETTER  and  RING,  whicli  hath  the  virtue  to  ex- 
pell  infectious  airs,  and  is  to  be  worn  betwixt  the 
sweet  duggs,  the  chaste  nest  of  pure  constancy. 
I  trust,  sir,  when  the  virtue  is  known,  it  shall 
not  be  refused  for  the  value." 

Fevers.     Brandf  has  given  a  charm  for  fever, 

*  Preservatives  airainst  the  Pestilence.     Lond.  1625,  4to. 
t  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.,  p.  580. 


92  CHARMS. 

from  a  MS.,  in  his  possession:  "Wrytetbys 
%voi"clys  on  a  lorell  lef :  +  ysmael  +  ysmael  +  ad- 
juro  vos  per  angel um  nt  soporetur  iste  homo  N. 
and  ley  thys  lef  under  hys  head  that  he  wete 
not  thereof,  and  let  hym  ete  letuse  oft,  and 
drj^nke  ip'e  seed  smal  grounden  in  a  morter, 
and  temper  yt  with  ale." 

"The  fever,"   says  Were nfels,  "he  will  not 
drive  away  by  medicines,  but,  what  is  a  more 
certain  remedy,  having  pared  his  nails  and  tied 
them  to  a  crayfish,  he  will  tarn  his  back,  and 
as  Deucalion  did  the  stones  from  which  a  new 
progeny  of  men  arose,  throw  them  behind  him 
into  the  next  river." 
I — Ague.     This  fever,  of  a  periodical  character, 
I  has  offered  perhaps  more  opportunities  for  the 
(  employment  of  charms  than  any  other  malady; 
and  there  are  many  cases  of  cure  on  record  af- 
^fected  by  fright  or  other  sudden  emotion.     All 
the  "horribles"  have  been  pressed  into  this  ser- 
vice;  but  it  will  be  sufficient  for  our  present 
/■  purpose  to  enumerate  only  a  few.     Boyle  re- 
lates the  case  of  a  gentleman  who  entertained 
great  fear  of  rats.     He  laboured  under  an  obsti- 
nate ague,  and  was  accidentally  confined  in  a 
room  where  there  was  one  of  those  animals, 
which  jumped  upon  him,  and  by  the  fright  oc- 
casioned by  it  the  ague  disappeared.     The  chain 
of  morbid  action  which  prevailed  in  the  sj^stem 
was  broken,  and   nature  then  effected  the  re- 
covery.    The  chips  of  a  gallows  put  into  a  bag 
and  worn  round  the  neck  has  also  been  said  to 
i-"^iave  cured  ague.     Mr.   Brand  reports  to  the 
same  effect,  and  also  records*  that  in  the  Life 

*  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.,  p.  583. 


CHARMS.  93 

of  Nicholas  ATooney,  a  notorious  highwayman, 
executed  with  others  at  Bristol,  in  1752,  it  is 
said,  that  "  after  the  cart  drew  away,  the  hang- 
man very  deservedly  had  his  head  broke  for  at- 
tempting to  pullolf  Mooney's  shoes  ;  and  a  fellow 
had  like  to  have  been  killed  in  mounting  the 
gallows  to  take  away  the  ropes  that  were  left 
after  the  malefactors  were  cut  down.  A  young 
woman  came  fifteen  miles  for  the  sake  of  the 
rope  from  Mooney's  neck,  which  was  given  to 
her,  it  being  by  many  apprehended  that  the 
halter  of  an  executed  person  will  charm  away 
the  ague  and  perform  many  other  cures." 

Elias  Ashmole,  in  his  Diary,  April  11,  1681, 
has  entered,  "  I  took  early  in  the  morning  a 
good  dose  of  elixir,  and  hung  three  spiders 
about  my  neck,  and  drove  my  ague  away.  Deo 
Gratias  !" 

Spiders  and  their  webs  have  often  been  recom- 
mended «V]:  the  cure  of  this  malady.  Burton  sives 
the  following  rf  "  Being  in  the  country  in  the  va- 
cation time,  not  many  years  since,  at  Lindly,  in 
Leicestershire,  my  father's  house,  I  first  observed 
this  amulet  of  a  spider  in  a  nut-shell,  wrapped 
in  silk,  &c.,  so  applyed  for  an  ague  by  my 
mother.  Whom,  although  I  knew  to  have  ex- 
cellent skill  in  chirurgery,  sore  eyes,  aches,  &c., 
and  such  experimental  medicines,  as  all  the 
country  where  she  dwelt  can  witness,  to  have 
done  many  famous  and  good  cures  upon  divers 
poor  folks  that  were  otherwise  destitute  of  help  ; 
yet  among  all  other  experiments,  this  methought 

*  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  p.  245. 


94  CHARMS. 

was  most  absurd  and  ridiculous.  I  could  see 
no  warrant  for  it.  Quid  aranea  cum  Febre? 
For  what  antipathy  ?  till  at  length  rambling 
amongst  authors  (as  I  often  do),  I  found  this 
very  medicine  in  Dioscorides,  approved  by  Mat- 
thiolus,  repeated  by  Aldrovandus,  cap.  de  Aranea, 
lib.  de  Insectis,  I  began  to  have  a  better  opinion 
of  it,  and  to  give  more  credit  to  amulets,  when 
I  saw  it  in  some  parties  answer  to  experience." 
:'* '  Other  less  offensive   means  have  been  em- 

ployed with  the  same  intent.     Thus  the  Hon. 
Robert  Boyle  says*  he  was  cured  of  a  violent 
quotidian  ague,  after  having  in  vain  resorted  to 
„„  I  medical  aid,  by  applying  to  his  wrists  a  mixture 

i» '  of  two  handfuls  of  bay  salt,  the  same  quantity 

of  fresh  English  hops,  and  a  quarter  of  a  pound 
of  blue  currants,  very  diligently  beaten  into  a 
brittle  mass,  without  the  addition  of  anything 
moist,  and  so  spread  upon  linen  and  applied  to 
his  wrists.  He  endeavours  to  accou)  tJ  for  this 
cure  by  imagining  that  some  of  the  subtle  cor- 
puscles insinuate  themselves  through  the  pores 
of  the  skin  and  thus  enter  the  circulation.  The 
wristbands  employed  in  the  cure  of  ague  were 
called  Pericarpia.  Millefolium  or  yarrow,  worn 
in  a  little  bag  on  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  is  also 
reported  to  have  cured  ague. 

In  Skippon's  account  of  a  'Journey  through 
the  Low  Countries,'  &c.,  he  makes  mention  of 
the  lectures  of  Ferrarius  and  his  narrative  of  the 
cure  of  the  ague  of  a  Spanish  lieutenant,  by 

*  Usefulness  of  Nat.  Philosophy,  vol.  ii.,  (Works,)  ed. 
Lond.  1772,  p.  157. 


CHARMS.  95 

writinsc  the  words  febra  fuge,  and  cuttincr  off 
a  letter  from  the  paper  every  day,  and  he  ob- 
served the  distemper  to  abate  accordingly ;  when 
he  cut  the  letter  f  last  of  all  the  ague  left  him. 
In  the  same  year,  he  says,  fifty  more  were  re- 
ported to  be  cured  in  the  same  manner. 

Another  charm  for  ague  was  directed  to  be 
said  np  the  chimney,  b}^  the  eldest  female  of  the 
family,  on  St.  Agnus  Eve.     It  ran  thus : 

"  Tremble  and  go  ! 

First  day  shiver  and  burn  : 
Tremble  and  quake ! 

Second  day  shiver  and  learn  : 
Tremble  raid  die  ! 

Third  day  never  return." 

The  possibility  of  transplanting  or  transferring 
the  disease  was  once  commonly  entertained. 
Mr.  Douce,  in  some  MS.  notes  transmitted  to 
Mr.  Brand,  says,  "  it  is  usual  with  many  persons 
about  Exeter,  who  are  affected  with  ague,  to 
visit  at  dead  of  nisjht  the  nearest  cross-road  five 
different  times,  and  there  bury  a  new-laid  egg. 
The  visit  is  paid  about  an  hour  before  the  cold 
fit  is  expected  ;  and  they  are  persuaded  that 
with  the  egg  they  shall  bury  the  ague.  If  the 
experiment  fail,  (and  the  agitation  it  occasions 
may  often  render  it  successful,)  they  attribute 
it  to  some  unlucky  accident  that  may  have  be- 
fallen them  on  the  way.  In  the  execution  of 
this  matter  thev  observe  the  strictest  silence, 
taking  care  not  to  speak  to  any  one  whom  they 
may  happen  to  meet."  By  breaking  a  salted 
cake  of  bran  and  giving  it  to  a  dog,  when  the  fit 


96  CHARMS. 

comes  on,  the  malady  has  been  supposed  to  be 
transferred  from  the  patient  to  the  animal. 

Serenus    Samonicus   affords   us   a   classical 
remedy  for  a  quartan  ague,  by  placing  the  fourth 
book  of  Homer's  Iliad  under  the  patient's  head. 
An  enumeration  of  these  follies   might  be  ex- 
tended to  a  CTreat  length  ;  but  I  shall  close  this 
part  of  my  subject  by  a  narrative  of  considerable 
interest,  relating  to  Sir  John  Holt,  Lord  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  1709,  who, 
it  is  said,  was  extremely  wild  in  his  youth,  and 
being"  once  engaged  with  some  of  his  rakish 
friends  in  a  trip  into  the  country,  in  which  they 
had  spent  all  their  money,  it  was  agreed  they 
should   try  their  fortune  separately.     Holt  ar- 
rived at  an  inn  at  the  end  of  a  straggling  village, 
ordered  his  horse  to  be  taken  care  of,  bespoke 
a  supper  and  a  bed.     He  then  strolled  into  the 
kitchen,  where  he  observed  a  little  girl  of  thir- 
teen shivering  with  an  ague.     Upon  making 
inquiry  respecting  her,  the  landlady  told  him 
that  she  was  her  only  child,  and   had  been  ill 
nearly  a  year,  notwithstanding  all  the  assistance 
she  could  procure  for  her  from  physic.      He 
gravely  shook  his  head  at  the  doctors,  bade  her 
be   under   no   further   concern,   for    that    her 
daughter  should  never  have  another  fit.     He 
then  wrote  a  few  unintelligible  words  in  a  court 
hand  on  a  scrap  of  parchment,  which  had  been 
the  direction  affixed  to  a  hamper,  and  rolling  it 
up,  directed  that  it  should   be  bound  upon  the 
girl's  wrist  and  there  allowed  to  remain  until 
she  was  well.     The  ague  returned  no  more ; 
and  Holt,  having  remained  in  the  house  a  week, 


CHARMS.  97 

called  for  his  bill.  "God  bless  you,  Sir,"  said 
the  old  woman,  "you're  nothing  in  my  debt, 
I'm  sure.  I  wish,  on  the  contrary,  that  I  was 
able  to  pay  you  for  the  cure  which  you  have 
made  of  my  daughter.  Oh  !  if  I  had  had  the 
happiness  to  see  you  ten  months  ago,  it  would 
have  saved  me  forty  pounds."  With  pretended 
reluctance  he  accepted  his  accommodation  as 
a  recomj)ense,  and  rode  away.  Many  years 
elapsed,  Holt  advanced  in  his  profession  of  the 
law,  and  went  a  circuit,  as  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  into  the  same  county, 
where,  among  other  criminals  brought  before 
him,  was  an  old  woman  under  a  charge  of  witch- 
craft. To  support  this  accusation,  several  wit- 
nesses swore  that  the  prisoner  had  a  spell  with 
which  she  could  either  cure  such  cattle  as  were 
sick  or  destroy  those  that  were  well,  and  that 
in  the  use  of  this  spell  she  had  been  lately  de- 
tected, and  that  it  was  now  ready  to  be  produced 
in  court.  Upon  this  statement  the  judge  desired 
it  might  be  handed  up  to  him.  It  was  a  dirty 
ball,  wrapped  round  with  several  rags,  and  bound 
with  packtliread.  These  coverings  he  carefully 
removed,  and  beneath  them  found  a  piece  of 
parchment,  which  he  immediately  recognized 
as  his  own  youthful  fabrication.  For  a  few 
moments  he  remained  silent  —  at  length,  recol- 
lecting himself,  he  addressed  the  jury  to  the 
following  effect :  "  Gentlemen,  I  must  now  re- 
late a  particular  of  my  life,  which  very  ill  suits 
my  present  character  and  the  station  in  which 
I  sit ;  but  to  conceal  it  would  be  to  ao^orravate 
the  folly  for  which  I  ought  to  atone,  to  endanger 

9 


98  CHARMS. 

innocence,  and  to  countenance  superstition. 
This  bauble,  which  you  suppose  to  have  the 
power  of  Ufe  and  death,  is  a  senseless  scroll 
which  I  wrote  with  my  own  hand  and  gave  to 
this  woman,  whom  for  no  other  reason  you  ac- 
cuse as  a  witch."  He  then  related  the  particu- 
lars of  the  transaction,  with  such  an  etfect  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people,  that  his  old  landlady 
was  the  last  j>erson  tried  for  witchcraft  in  that 
/  country. 

— Hectic  Fever  and  Consumption.  Many  phy- 
sical charms  were  in  use  in  different  parts  of 
Scotland.  In  the  province  of  Moray,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Shaw  tells  us,  in  his  history  of  that  place, 
that  in  hectic  and  consumptive  diseases,  the 
t  inhabitants  pare  the  nails  of  the  fing-ers  and  toes 

^  of  the  patient,  put  them  into  a  rag  cut  from  his 

kii',  clothes,  then  wave  their  hand  with  the  raof  thrice 

ill  • 

r  i  round  his  head,  crying,  T>eas  soil ;  after  which 
["''  1  they  bury  the  rag  in  some  unknown  place. 
h*'  I  This  is  a  practice  similar  to  that  recorded  by 
K  \  Pliny,  as  practised  by  the  magicians  and  Druids 
— of  his  time. 

In  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  is  an  afTeclion 
of  the  chest,  known  by  the  appellation  of  Gla- 
cach  or  Macdonald's  disease,  because  there  are 
tribes  of  that  name  who  are  considered  to  have 
the  power,  by  the  use  of  a  certain  set  of  words. 


C 


r 

C: 


\m. 


/*'  of  removing  the  complaint.     No  fee  of  any  kind 

\;  yi^to  be  given. 

^;  /|      Hooping-cough.     It  is  a  common  superstition 

f  !  in  Devonshire,  Cornwall,  and  some  other  parts 

Ml  of  England,  to  inquire  of  any  one  riding  on  a 

pyebali  horse  of  a  remedy  for  the  hooping-cough, 


CHARMS.  99 

and  whatever  may  be  named  is  regarded  as  an 
infallible  specific.  „. 

Gout.  The  attacks  of  this  disease  are  often 
periodical,  and  they  have  been  subjected  to  the 
influence  of  charms.  Alexander  of  Tralles,  a 
medical  writer  of  celebrity,  has  given  the  fol- 
lowing as  an  esteemed  one  in  his  time:  "Re- 
medium  a  Podagra  pra3servans  in  laminam 
auream,  luna  desinente,  quse  sequuntur  inscri- 
bito,  et  nervis  gruis  involvito:  deinde  simili 
canaliculo  ipsam  includito,  gestatoque  ad  tales. 
Meu,  treu,  mor,  phor,  teux,  za,  zor,  phe,  lou, 
chri,  ge,  ze,  on.  Quemadmoduni  sol  in  hisce 
remcdiis  firmatur,  et  quotidie  renovatur,  ita  hoc 
figmentum  confirmatur  quemadmoduni  prius. 
Jam,  jam,  cito,  cito,  ecce  enim  magnum  nomeri 
dico  in  quo  conquiescentia  firmantur.  Jaz, 
Azyph,  Zyon,  threux,  bayn,  choog.  Firmate 
hoc  figmentum  ut  erat  primum.  Jam,  jam, 
cito,  cito.  Ad  Podagram,  qure  nondum  con- 
traxit  nodes,  admirabile  et  probatum."* 

Scrofula.  For  this  disease  many  charms 
have  been  employed,  but  no  remedy  has  been 
so  highly  esteemed  as  the  royal  touch,  of  which 
a  particular  history  is  given  in  another  part  of 
this  volume.  The  hand  of  the  sovereign,  how- 
ever, was  by  some  deemed  not  more  efficacious 
than  thatof  a  murderer  orof  a  virgin;  for  in  Scot's 
'Discovery  of  Witchcraft'  it  is  stated,  "  To  heal 

*  [A  remedy  for  the  gout.  Write,  on  a  golden  plate  at  the 
wane  of  the  moon,  what  follows,  rolling  round  it  the  sinews 
of  a  crane.  Put  it  in  a  little  bag,  and  wear  it  near  the  ankles.. 
The  words  are  meu,  treu,  &c.] 

+  Lib.  xi.,  cap.  1. 


100  CHARMS. 

the  king  or  queen's  evil,  or  any  other  soreness 
of  the  throat,  first  touch  the  place  with  the  hand  of 
one  that  died  an  untimely  death,  otherwise  let 
a  virgin,  fasting,  lay  her  hand  on  the  sore,  and 
say,  '  Apollo  denyelh  that  the  heat  of  the  plague 
can  increase  where  a  naked  virgin  quencheth 
it;'  and  spit  three  times  upon  it."  To  dispel 
tumours,  particularly  of  a  scrofulous  nature,  the 
^  stroking  nine  times  with  the  hand  of  a  dead 

C  man,  and  particularly  of  one  who  has  suffered 

V  a  violent  death  as  the  penalty  of  his  crimes, 

(  especially  if  it  be  for  murder,  has  been  a  com- 

•  mon   practice,  and,  if  not  followed  at  the  pre- 

(■'  sent  day,  was  certainly  a  few  years  since,  it 

tot-  being  no  unfrequent  thing  to  observe  on  the 

^„,  scaffold  numbers  of  persons  submittino;-  to  this 

/'  disgusting  foolery,  under  the  exercise  of  the  exe- 

JjJ  cutioner  and  his  assistants. 

L  "  Squire  Morley,  of  Essex,   used  to   say  a 

j^^  prayer,  which  he    hoped  would  do  no  harm 

t  when  he  hung  a  bit  of  vervain-root  from  a  scro- 

ti fulous  person's  neck.     My  aunt   Freeman  had 

^  a  very  high  opinion  of  a  baked  toad,  in  a  silk 

bag,  hung  round  the  neck."* 

Rickets.  This  is  a  modification  of  scrofula, 
and  children  thus  affected  have  been  drawn 
through  a  cleft  tree,  which  was  afterwards 
bound  up,  and  as  it  united,  the  disease  disap- 
peared or  the  child  gained  strength.  Grose 
says,  that  if  a  tree  of  anv  kind  is  split,  and  w^eak, 
rickety,  or  ruptured  children  drawn  through  it 
and  the  tree  afterwards  bound  up,  as  the  treQ 

*  Brand's  Popular  Anticjuities,  vol.  ii„  p.  598, 


CHARMS.  101 

lieals  and  grows  together,  so  will  the  children 
acquire  strength.  Sir  John  Cnllum  saw  the 
operation  performed,  and  states  that  the  ash  tree  __^ 
was  selected  as  the  most  preferable  for  the  pur- 
pose. It  was  split  longitudinal^^  about  five 
feet :  the  fissure  was  kept  open  by  the  gardener, 
whilst  the  friend  of  the  child,  having  first 
stripped  him  naked,  passed  him  thrice  through  * 
it,  almost  head  foremost.  This  accomplished, 
the  tree  was  bound  up  with  packthread,  and  as 
the  bark  healed,  so  it  was  said  the  child  would 
recover.  One  of  the  cases  was  of  rickets,  the 
other  a  rupture.  The  ash  tree  has  been  very 
generally  preferred  for  superstitious  practices. 
White,  in  his  well-known  '  Natural  History  of 
Selborne,'  has  noticed  this  particularly.  Not 
only  trees,  but  stones,  were  similarly  used. 
To  creep  through  a  perforated  stone  was  a 
Druidical  ceremony;  and  in  the  parish  of  Mar- 
den  there  is,  or  was,  a  stone  with  a  hole  in  it 
fourteen  inches  in  diameter,  through  which 
children  were  drawn  for  the  rickets. 

Sore  Eyes.  This  is  another  scrofulous  dis- 
order. Willielmus  de  Montibus,  chancellor  of 
the  mother  church  of  Lincoln,  has  given  a  bless- 
ing and  a  ceremonial  in  which  it  is  to  be  con- 
ferred, for  the  cure  of  sore  eyes.*  Cottaf  re- 
lates "-a  merrie  historic  of  an  approved  famous 
spell  for  sore  eyes.  By  many  honest  testimo- 
nies it  was  a  lono:  tint©  worne  as  a  Jewell  about 

*  See  Beckett'^  Collection  of  Records,  No.  iv. 
t  Short  Discoverie  of  the  Dangers  of  ignorant  Praqtisers  o? 
Physicke,  p.  49.. 
9* 


102  CHARMS. 

many  necks,  written  in  paper  and  inclosed  in 
silke,  never  failing  to  do  sovereigne  good  when 
all  other  helpes  were  helplesse.  No  sight 
might  dare  to  reade  or  open.  At  length  a  cu- 
rious mind,  while  the  patient  slept,  by  stealth 
ripped  open  the  mystical  cover,  and  found  the 
powerful  characters  Latin  :  '  Diabolus  effodiat 
tibi  oculos,  impleat  foramina  stercoribus.'  " 

Marasmus.  Mr.  Boyle  tells  the  case  of  a 
physician  whom  he  consulted,  and  whose  wan 
looks  —  probably  as  bad  as  those  of  the  meagre 
apothecary  of  Shakespeare  in  'Romeo  and 
Juliet'  —  betokened  a  marasmus,  and  who  was 
induced,  failing  in  other  means,  to  employ  a 
sympathetic  mode  of  treatment.  He  took  an 
egg  and  boiled  it  hard  in  his  own  warm  urine  ; 
he  then  with  a  bodkin  perforated  the  shell  in 
many  places,  and  buried  it  in  an  ant-hill,  where 
it  was  kept  to  be  devoured  by  the  emmets;  and 
as  they  wasted  the  egg,  he  found  his  distemper 
to  abate  and  his  strength  to  increase,  insomuch 
that  his  disease  left  him. 

Calculus.  For  the  cure  of  stone,  Boyle  tells 
us  that  the  Lapis  nephriticus — a  species  of 
jasper — -was  frequently  bound  at  the  wrists, 
but  chiefly  on  that  of  the  left  hand.  Anselmus 
Boetius  de  Boot,  Monardes,  Untzerus,  and  Jo- 
hannes de  Laet  have  borne  evidence  to  its 
efficacy.* 

Cholera.     The  Lapis  porcinus,  according  to 

*  Bool  de  Lapid.  et  Gem.,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  11.  Monardes  de 
Simplic.  Ind.  Hist.,  20.  Untzerus  de  Nephrit.,  lib.  i.,  cap. 
24.  Boyle's  Usefulness  of  Natural  Philosophy  (Works), 
vol.  ii.,  cap.  10,  p.  156. 


CHARMS.  103 

Bontius,  is  declared  to  be  good  for  the  cholera, 
but  it  must  not  be  given  to  pregnant  women. 
It  was  sufficient  for  the  females  of  Malaica  to 
hold  the  stone  in  their  hands  to  produce  the 
catamenia,  if  obstruction  existed. 

During  the  prevalence  of  cholera  a  few  years 
since,  it  was  common  in  many  parts  of  Austria, 
Germany,  and  Italy,  to  wear  an  amulet  at  the 
pit  of  the  stomach,  in  contact  with  the  skin.  I 
have  one  of  these,  sent  from  Hungary;  it  con- 
sists merely  of  a  circular  piece  of  copper,  two 
inches  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  is  without 
characters.  In  Naples,  I  learn,  they  were  very 
generally  worn. 

Jaundice.  Seven  or  nine  —  it  must  be  an  — ^ 
odd  number  —  cakes  made  of  the  newly  emitted  / 
and  warm  urine  of  the  patient  with  the  ashes  / 
of  ash  wood,  and  buried  for  some  days  in  a  j 
dunghill,  will,  according  to  Paracelsus,  cure  I 
the  yellow  jaundice.  This  is  called  a  cure  by  1 
transplantation.  — -^ 

In  the  Journal  of  Dr.  Edward  Browne,  trans- 
mitted to  his  father,  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  we 
read  of  "a  magical  cure  for  the  jaundice: 
Burne  wood  under  a  leaden  vessel  filled  with 
water ;  take  the  ashes  of  that  wood,  and  boyle 
it  with  the  patient's  urine  ;  then  lay  nine  long 
heaps  of  the  boyld  ashes  upon  a  board  in  a 
ranke,  and  upon  every  heap  lay  nine  spears 
of  crocus  :  it  hath  greater  effects  than  is  cre- 
dible to  any  one  that  shall  barely  read  this  re- 
ceipt without  experiencing."* 

*  Works,  voU  i.,  p.  48» 


104  CHARMS. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Hanii  to  the  Hon.  Robert 
Boyle  gives  some  instances  of  transplantation  : 
The  cure  of  jaundice  by  the  burying  m  a  dung- 
hill a  cake  made  of  ashes  and  the  patient's  urine. 
Ague  in  a  boy  cured  by  a  cake  made  of  barley- 
meal  and  his  urine,  and  given  to  a  dog  to  eat  — 
the  dog  had  a  shaking  fit,  and  the  boy  was 
cured.  Boys  cured  of  warts  by  taking  an  elder- 
stick  and  cutting  as  many  notches  in  it  as  there 
were  warts,  then  rubbing  it  upon  the  warts  and 
burying  it  in  a  dunghill.*  Salmuth  also  relates 
a  case  of  cure  by  transplantation  :  "  The  patient 
had  a  most  violent  pain  of  the  arm,  and  they  beat 
up  red  corals  with  oaken  leaves,  and  having 
kept  them  on  the  part  affected  till  suppuration, 
they  did  in  the  morning  put  this  mixture  into  a 
hole  bored  with  an  augur  in  the  root  of  an  oak, 
respecting  the  east,  and  stop  up  this  hole  with 
a  peg  made  of  the  same  tree  ;  from  thenceforth 
the  pain  did  altogether  cease,  and  when  they 
took  out  the  amulet  immediately  the  torments 
returned  sharper  than  before."! 

Worms.  Charms  were  often  employed  for 
the  cure  of  worms,  accompanied  with  a  form  of 
prayer.  Brand  quotes  a  MS.  which  contained 
an  exorcism  against  all  kinds  of  worms  which 
infest  the  body  :  it  was  to  be  repeated  three 
mornings  as  a  certain  remedy. 

Bites  of  Venomous  Animals.  Serpents'  bites 
were  said  to  be  healed  by  a  company  of  people 
•called  sauveurs,  who  had  a  mark  of  St.  Catha- 


I  y 


*  Vol.  vi.,  p.  168. 

t  See   on   this   subject,  Bartholinus  de   Transplantatlooe 
Morborum,  Hafuiee,  1673,  12mo. 


CHARMS.  105 

rine's  wheel  upon  their  palate.  Snake-stones- 
were  originally  brought  from  Java,  and  supposed 
by  their  absorbent  power  to  have  the  quality  of 
extracting  the  poison  inserted,  by  being  simply 
placed  over  the  bitten  part.  Charms  are  com- 
mon in  Aleppo  against  scorpions,  serpents,  bugs, 
and  other  vermin.  Russell*  mentions  one  in 
particular  against  musquitoes.  It  consists  of  a 
little  slip  of  paper,  on  which  is  inscribed  certain 
unintelligible  characters,  and  this  is  pasted  upon 
the  lintel  of  a  door,  or  over  the  windows.  The 
power  of  distributing  these  charms  has  descend- 
ed hereditarily  in  one  family,  and  on  a  certain 
day  in  the  year  they  are  given  gratis.  In 
'  Navarette's  Account  of  the  Phillipine  Islands'f 
he  alludes  to  the  abundance  of  scorpions,  and 
was  told  that  the  best  remedy  against  them  was, 
when  croins'  to  bed,  to  make  a  commemoration 
of  St.  George.  This  devotion,  he  says,  he  con- 
tinued many  years,  and  the  saint  failed  not  to 
deliver  him  from  the  tormentors.  The  bed  was 
also  rubbed  with  garlic,  which  doul)tless  was  by 
far  the  most  efficacious  part  of  the  remedy. 
Pierius  mentions  the  following  against  the  sting 
of  the  scorpion  :  "  The  patient  is  to  sit  on  an 
ass,  with  his  face  to  the  tail  of  the  animal,  by 
which  the  pain  will  be  transmitted  from  the 
man  to  the  beast."  Pontanus  records  a  charm 
used  by  the  people  of  Apulia  for  the  bite  of  the 
tarantula,  and  which  was  found  equally  effica- 
cious against  the  bite  of  a  mad  dog.     This  was, 

*  Hist,  of  Aleppo,  p.  103. 

t  Churcliill's  Collection  of  Voyages,  vol.  i.,  p.  212. 


Uv 


106  CHA.RMS. 

to  go  ?iine  times  round  the  town  on  the  Sabbath, 
calling  upon  and  imploring  the  assistance  of  the 
saint.  Un  the  third  night  —  the  prayers  being 
heard  and  granted,  and  the  disease  restored  — 
the  madness  was  removed.  The  charm  runs 
thus : 

*'  Alme  vithe  pellicane, 
Oram  qui  tencs  Apulam, 
Littusque  polyganicum, 
Qui  Morsus  rabidos  levas, 
Irasque  canum  mitigas : 
Tu,  Sancte,  Rabiem  asperam, 
Rictusque  canis  luridos, 
Tu  ssevam  proiiibe  luem. 
I  procul  hinc  Rabies, 
Procul  hinc  furor  omnis  abesto."* 

Erysipelas.  Bollandus  gives  an  account  of 
many  miracles  wrought  by  the  intercession  of 
St.  Anthony,  particularly  in  the  distemper 
called  Sacred  Fire,  which  since  his  time  has 
been  called  St.  Anthonifs  Fire,  it  having  mira- 
culously ceased  through  his  patronage  when 
raging  violently  in  many  parts  of  Europe  in  the 
eleventh  century.  Blochwick  mentions  an 
amulet  against  erysipelas.  It  is  to  be  made  of 
the  "  Elder  on  which  the  sun  never  shined. 
If  the  piece  betwixt  the  two  knots  be  hung 
about  the  patient's  neck,  it  is  much  commended. 
Some  cut  it  in  little  pieces,  and  sew  it  in  a  knot 

*  [Thou  who  presidest  over  the  ApuHan  shores, 
Thou  who  curest  the  bites  of  mad  dogs. 
Thou,  O  Sacred  One,  ward  off  this  cruel  plague, 
This  dismal  gnawing  of  dogs. 
Get  thee  far  hence,  O  madness,  O  fury.] 


CHARMS.  107 

ill  a  piece  of  a  man's  sliirt,  which  seems  super- 
stitious." 

Herpes.  Turner*  notices  a  prevalent  charm 
among  old  women  for  the  shingles:  the  blood 
of  a  black  cat,  taken  from  the  cat's  tail  and 
sm.eared  on  the  part  affected.  In  the  only  case, 
however,  in  which  he  saw  this  superstition 
practised,  it  caused  considerable  mischief 

Burns.    In  Pepys's  Diary  t  there  is  "A  charme  . 
for  a  burning :" 

"  There  came  three  angels  out  of  the  east ; 
The  one  brought  fire,  the  other  brought  frost  — 
Out  fire  ;  in  frost : 
In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  Son,  and  Floly  Ghost. 

Amen." 

Thorns.     The   same   authority   records    "  A 
charme  for  a  thorne :" 

"  Jesus,  that  was  of  a  Virgin  born, 
Was  priclied  both  with  nail  and  thorn; 
It  neither  wealed,  nor  belled,  rankled  nor  boned  ; 
In  the  name  of  Jesus  no  more  shall  this." 

Or,  thus  : 

"  Christ  was  of  a  Virgin  born, 
And  lie  was  pricked  with  a  thorn ; 
And  it  did  neither  bell,  nor  swell  ; 
And  I  trust  in  Jesus  this  never  will." 

Reginald  ScotJ  gives  a  charm  used  in   the 

*  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  p.  82. 

t  Vol.  i.,  p.  323. 

\  Discovery  of  Witchcraft,  p.  137. 


108  CHARMS. 

Romish  Church  upon  St.  Blaze's  day,  that  will 
fetch  a  thorn  out  of  any  place  of  one's  body,  a 
bone  out  of  the  throat,  *&c.,  to  wit:  "  Call  upon 
God,  and  remember  St.  Blaze." 
-^  Warts.  For  the  charming  of  warts  many 
means  have  been  devised ;  several  of  these  are 
ridiculous  and  disgusting.  Grose  gives,  for  the 
removal  of  these  excrescences,  direction  to 
*'  steal  a  piece  of  beef  from  a  butcher's  shop,  and 
rub  your  wart  with  it,  then  throw  it  doum  the 
necessary-house,  or  bury  it,  and  as  the  beef  rots, 
your  warts  will  decay."  Sir  Thomas  Browne 
says,  "  for  warts  we  rub  our  hands  before  the 
moon,  and  commit  any  maculated  part  to  the 
touch  of  the  dead." 

Sir  Kenelm  Digby  says,*  "  One  would  think 
it  were  a  folly  that  one  should  offer  to  wash  his 
hands  in  a  well-polished  silver  basin,  wherein 
there  is  not  a  drop  of  water,  yet  this  may  be  done 
by  the  reflection  of  the  moonbeams  only,  which 
will  afford  it  a  competent  humidity  to  do  it; 
but  they  who  have  tried  it,  have  found  their 
hands,  after  they  are  wiped,  to  be  much  moister 
than  usually ;  but  this  is  an  infallible  way  to 
take  away  warts  from  the  hands,  if  it  be  often 
used." 

Small-pox.  This  is  a  disease  of  great  antiquity. 
It  was  known  at  a  very  early  period  in  China 
and  in  India ;  and  there  is  a  Chinesef  as  well 
as  an  Indian  goddess,  who  is  conceived  to  have 
a  superintending  power  over  the  disease.  The 
Hindoo  goddess  has  been  particularly  described 

*  Discourse  on  the  Power  of  Sympathy. 

t  See  Hist,  of  China,  by  Pere  de  Halde,  vol.  iv. 


CHARMS.  109 

by  Mr.  Moore,  from  an  original  drawing,  which 
is  exceedingly  curious.*  Inoculation  was  prac- 
tised at  a  very  early  period  in  Hindostan,!  and 
during  the  ceremony  prayers  appointed  in  the 
Attharva  Veda,  were  solemnly  recited  to  propi- 
tiate the  goddess.  A  small  present  was  also 
made  to  the  Bramin  officiating,  who  never 
failed  to  lay  an  injunction  on  the  family;  also  to 
make  a  thanksgivinor  offerinor  to  the  goddess 
upon  their  recovery  from  the  disease.  Mr. 
Moore  has  quoted  an  exorcism  from  a  MS.  in 
the  Harleian  Collection, J  which  reads  thus  : 
"In  nomine  Patris,  et  Filii,  et  Spiritus  Sancti, 
amen.  +  in  adjutoriumsit  Salvator  noster  +  do- 
minus  cell  ....  audi  preces  famulorum  famu- 
■  larumque  tuarum  Domine  Jhesu  Chrispte  .... 
adque  peto  Angelorum  milia  aut  (ut)  me  +  sol- 

*  "  The  Small-pox  goddess  stands  with  two  uplifted  crooked 
dacfcrers,  threatening  to  strike  on  the  right  and  left.  Before 
her  are  a  band  of  the  executers  of  her  vengeance.  Two  of 
them  wear  red  grinning  masks,  carry  black  shields,  and  brand- 
ish naked  scymitars.  White  lines,  like  rays,  issue  from  the 
bodies  of  the  others,  to  indicate  infection.  On  the  right,  there 
is  a  group  of  men  with  spotted  bodies,  inflicted  with  the  ma- 
lady :  bells  are  hung  at  their  cinctures,  and  a  few  of  them 
wave  in  their  hands  black  feathers.  They  are  preceded  by 
musicians  with  drums,  who  are  supplicating  the  pity  of  the 
furious  deity.  Behind  the  goddess,  on  the  right,  there  ad- 
vances a  bevy  of  smiling  young  women,  who  are  carrying 
gracefully  on  their  heads  baskets  with  thanksgiving-offerings, 
in  gratitude  for  their  lives  and  their  beauty  having  been  spared. 
There  is,  besides,  a  little  boy  with  a  bell  at  his  girdle,  who 
seems  to  be  conveving  something  from  the  right  arm  of  the 
goddess.  This  action  may  possibly  be  emblematic  ol  mocu- 
lation."     (History  of  the  Small-pox,  p.  33.) 

t  Chais  Essai  Apolog.,  &c.,p.  220. 

\  Number  585,  p.  202. 
10 


no  CHARMS. 

vent  ac  defendant  doloris  igniculo  et  potestate 
Variola,  ac  protegat  mortis  a  periculo ;  tuas 
Jhesu  Chrispte  aures  tuas  nobis  inclina."*  The 
same  MS.  gives  a  prayer  addressed  to  St.  Ni- 
caise  for  the  consecration  of  an  amulet  against 
the  disease.  It  is  in  barbarous  Latin,  but  may 
be  rendered  thus:  "In  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  may  the  Lord  protect  these  per- 
sons, and  may  the  work  of  these  virgins  ward 
off  the  small-pox.  St.  Nicaise  had  the  small-pox, 
and  he  asked  the  Lord  (to  preserve)  whoever 
carried  his  name  inscribed :  O,  St.  Nicaise ! 
thou  illustrious  biohop  and  martyr,  pray  for  me, 
a  sinner,  and  defend  me  by  thy  intercession 
from  this   disease.     Amen." 

Hemorrhage  and  Hemorrlioids.  Precious 
stones,  stones  of  various  composition,  verses,  dis- 
gusting animals,  &c.,  have  all  been  put  into  re- 
quisition for  the  suppression  of  hemorrhagy. 
Garcias  ab  Ortof  makes  mention  of  a  stone 
called  alaqueca,  found  in  Balagat,  the  virtue  of 
which  is  accounted  above  all  other  gems,  ina.s- 
muclias  it  is  able  to  stop  the  flux  of  blood  in 
L._.  any  part.  Monardes  mentions  the  Lapis  san- 
guinaris,  or  blood-stone,  found  in  New  Spain, 
of  which  the  Indians  believe  that  if  it  be  applied 

*  [In  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit, 
amen  .  .  ,  .  +  may  our  Saviour  be  our  help  -f-  the  lord  of 
Heaven hear  the  prayers  of  thy  servants  and  hand- 
maidens, Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  I  ask  for  a  thousand 
angels  +  that  they  may  protect  me  from  the  contagion  of  the 
small-pox  and  the  danger  of  dea,th.  Incline  thy  ears  to  us, 
Jesus  Christ.] 

t  Lib.  ii.,  cap.  53. 


CHARMS.  Ill 

to  any  recent  wound  it  will  immediately  check 
the  bleeding;  and  he  says  that  he  has  seen  per- 
sons afflicted  with  hemorrhoids  who  wore  this 
stone  in  rino-s  on  their  finders  for  relief.  The 
jasper,  which  is  blood-red  throughout,  has  been 
highly  celebrated  for  its  pou-er  in  controlling 
hemorrhage.  Boetius  de  Boot  says*  he  cured 
a  maid  at  Prague,  who  had  suffered  from  a  vio- 
lent hemorrhagy  for  six  years,  for  which  she 
had  often  been  bled,  and  various  remedies  re- 
sorted to  without  effect,  by  merely  hanging  a 
jasper  round  her  neck  which  effected  her  cure. 
Upon  leaving  off  the  jasper  the  hemorrhage 
would  return,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  case 
for  some  time  ;  at  length,  however,  she  was  per- 
fectly cured. 

Van  Helmont  affirms  that  he  had  a  metal,  of 
which,  if  a  ring  were  made  and  worn,  not  only 
the  pain  attendant  upon  hemorrhoids  would 
cease,  but  that  in  twenty-four  hours,  whether 
internal  or  external,  they  would  vanish  alto- 
gether.! Brand  J  gives  "  A  charme  to  staunch 
blood  :  Jesus  that  was  in  Bethleem  born,  and 
baptyzed  was  in  the  flumen  Jordane,  as  stente 
the  water  at  hys  comyng,  so  stente  the  blood  of 
thys  man  N.  thy  servvaunt,  thorw  the  virtu  of 
thy  holy  Name  -f-  Jesu  -f  &  of  thy  Cosyn  swete 
Sent  Jon.  And  sey  thys  charme  fyve  tymes 
with  fyve  Pater  Nosters,  in  the  worschep  of 
the  fyve  woundys."  Pepys,  in  his  *  Diary,'  gives 
also  the  following : 

*  De  Lapid.  et  Gem.,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  102, 

t  Lib.  de  Febrib.,  cap.  ii. 

X  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.,  p.  580. 


112  CHARMS. 


"  FOR  STENCHING  OF  BLOOD. 


SancTLiis  mane  in  te, 

Sicut  Christus  fuit  in  se  ; 

Sanguis  mane  in  tua  vena, 

Sicut  Christus  in  sua  poena; 

Sanguis  mane  fixus, 

Sicut  Christus  quando  fuit  crucifixus."* 

t-    Homer  refers  to  the  suppression  of  bleeding 
•from  the  wound  received  byUljsses,by  u  charm; 
and  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  the  '  Lay  of  the  Last 
;  Minstrel,'  says : 

I  "  She  drew  the  splinter  from  the  wound, 

■;  And  with  a  charm  she  staunch'd  the  blood." 

\ 

;      Toads,  either  alive  or  dried,  and  laid  upon 
J  the  back  of  the  neck,  are  often  mentioned  as  a 

'  _  _  ^ 

means  of  stopping  a  bleeding  at  the  nose.  They 
were  formed  into  a  powder,  called  the  Pulvis 
iEthiopicus,  of  which  the  mode  of  preparation 
is  given  in  Bates's  'Pharmacopoeia.'  It  was  used 
lexternally  and  also  given  internally  in  cases  of 
[dropsy,  small-pox,  and  other  diseases. 
' Boyle  says,t  "  Having  been  one  summer  fre- 
quently subject  to  bleeding  at  the  nose,  and  re- 
duced to  employ  several  remedies  to  check  that 

*     [Blood  remain  in  Thee, 
As  Christ  was  in  himself; 
Blood  remain  in  thy  veins, 
As  Christ  in  his  pains ; 
Blood  remain  fixed, 
As  Christ  was  on  the  crucifix.] 
t  Essay  on  Porousness  of  Animal  Bodies,  vol.  iv.  (Works), 
p.  767. 


CHARMS.  113 

distemper ;  that  whcli  I  found  the  most  effec- 
tual to  stanch  the  blood  M'as  some  moss  of  a  dead 
man's  skull,  (sent  for  a  present  out  of  Ireland, 
where  it  is  far  less  rare  than  in  most  other  coun- 
tries,) thouoh  it  did  but  touch  my  skin,  till  the 
herb  was  a  little  warmed  by  it." 

Sierilitij.     The  Abbe  Mariti*  has  given  a  de--i 
scription  of  the  mandrake,  the  fruit  of  which,  he   I 
says,  is  very  exhilarating  and  a  provocative  of 
venery.     The  application  of  mandrakes,  as  re- 
medies for  sterility,  is  professed  to  have  been 
taken  from  the  history  of  Jacob   and  Leah.f. 
The  fabulous  conceits  relating  to  this  plant  are 
well  exposed   by  Sir  Thomas   Browne,  in  his 
'  PseudodoxiaEpidemica.'     The  fancied  resem- 
blance of  the  root  to  the  shape  of  the  limbs  of  a 
man  is  likely  to  have  caused  its  employment 
against  barrenness,  in  accordance  with  the  opi- 
nion entertained  of  an  agreement  or  correspond- 
ence of  power  and  form. 

Ckildhirth.  The  superstitious  practices  con- 
nected with  this  state  are  numerous.  At  the 
time  of  an  accouchement,  charais  seem  formerly 
to  have  been  much  employed.  Bonner,  bishop 
of  London  in  1554,  forbids|  "  a  mydwife  of 
hisdioceseto  exercise  any  watchecrafte,charmes, 
sorcerye,  invocations,  or  praiers,  other  than  such 
as  be  allowable  and  may  stand  with  the  lawes 
and   ordinances   of    the   Catholike   Churche." 


*  Travels,  vol.  ii.,  p.  19.5. 
t  Genesis,  chap.  xxx. 

X  Injunctions  at  the  Visitation  from  Sept.  3,  1554,  to  Oct. 
8,  1555. 

10* 


114  CHARMS. 

And  in  1559,  (1st  Eliz.,)  an  inquiry*  was  di- 
rected to  be  made  "  wliether  you  knowe  any 
that  doe  use  charmes,  sorcery, enchauntementes, 
invocations,  circles,  witchecraftes,  southsayinge, 
or  any  lyke  craftes  or  itnaginacions  invented  by 
the  devyl,  and  specially  in  the  tyme  of  women's 
travaylle."  Strypef  tells  us  that  in  1567  the 
mid  wives  took  an  oath,  inter  alia,  not  to  "  suffer 
any  other  bodies'  child  to  be  set,  brought,  or 
laid  before  any  woman  delivered  of  child  in  the 
place  of  her  natural  child,  so  far  forth  as  I  can 
know  and  understand.  Also  I  will  not  use  any 
kind  of  sorcerye  or  incantation  in  the  time  of 
the  travail  of  any  woman." 

--•  To  promote  or  facilitate  delivery,  the  Lapis 
aetites,  or  eagle-stone,  a  composition  of  the  oxyde 
of  iron  with  small  portions  of  silex  and  alumina, 
which  rattle  within  upon  being  shook,  have  been 
bound  to  the  arm  or  to  the  thigh,  the  former  to 
revent  abortion,  the  latter  to  aid  in  parturition. 
"Aquilte  lapis  qui  in  ventre  ejus  aut  in  nido 
I  inventus  fuerit,  phylacterium  est  prsegnantibus. 
VNomen    liabet    ^tites."|       "Iris   helpeth   a 
\voman  to  speedie  deliverance,  and  maketh  raine- 
Dows  to  appeare."     The  sardonyx  was  laid  inie7' 
mammas,  to  procure  easy  birth,  and  one  for- 
merly belonged  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Alban's 
r^  to  be  used  for  this  purpose. §     The  Chinese  re- 

*  Articles  to  be  inquired  in  the  Visitacyon  in  the  fyrst 
yeare  of  Queen  Eliz.,  1559. 

t  Annals  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  i.,  p    537. 

\  Sextus  Philosophus  Platonicus  de  Medicina  Animalium, 
&;c.     Tiguri,  1539,  p.  100. 

§  Brand's  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.,  p.  599,  note. 


CHARMS.  115 

commend,  with  the  same  intention,  a  marine 
insect  in  the  shape  of  a  horse,  which  is  to  be  held 
in  the  hand  of  the  woman  in  labour,  and  she 
will  then  be  delivered  of  her  burthen  with  the 
same  facility  "as  a  ewe  which  has  gone  her  full 
time."  Branches  of  palm  were  also  held  in  the 
hand  by  child-bearing  women. ^ 

The  men  in  some  countries,  when  the  women 
are  delivered,  lie  in,  keep  their  bed,  and  are  at- 
tended as  if  really  sick.f     At  Surinam,  Fermin    ! 
says,  the  man  keeps  to  his  liamac  for  six  weeks.    ,' 
In  Persia,  when  a  woman  is  about  to  lie  in,  the   \ 
school-masters  are  requested  to  give  liberty  to  J 
their  boys,  and  birds  confined  in  cages  are  per- 
mitted to  escape.     Charlevoix  says,  that  when  ' 
the  women  of  Maroc  perceive  labour-pains,  the  i 
neighbours  select  five  school-boys,  and  tie  four  \ 
eggs  in  the  four  corners  of  a  napkin,  Avith  which  1 
the  bovs  run  sin^inor  throuo^h  the  streets.  \ 

Child's  Caul.  In  this  and  some  other  coun- 
tries when  a  child  is  born  with  the  caul  or  am- 
nion over  its  face,  it  is  preserved  with  great  care 
and  regarded  as  ominous  of  good  fortune  to  the 
infant,  and  also  as  valuable  to  any  one  who  may 
become  possessed  of  it,  enabling  them  to  avoid 
many  serious  dangers.  "  II  est  ne  coiffe,"  is 
a  French  proverb  applied  to  lucky  people.  In 
Scotland,  according  to  Iluddiman,:j:  it  is  called 

*  Homer  in  Hymn.  Apoll.  v.  14. 

t  Sec  on  this  subject  the  works  of  Biet,  Du  Tertre,  Thevct, 
Lafitau,  Froger,  Boulanger,  &;c.  Similar  accounts  are  to  be 
found  in  the  writings  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  ApoIIonius,  and 
Strabo. 

\  Glossary  to  Douglas's  Virgil. 


( 


116  CHARMS. 

a  halij  or  sely  how,  a  holy  or  fortunate  cap  or 
hood.  A  midwife  in  Scotland  is  called  a  howdy 
or  howdy  wife.  The  virtues  of  the  caul  are 
described  as  various ;  it  renders  advocates  elo- 
quent, saves  the  possessor  from  having  his  house 
destroyed  by  fire,  or  being  himself  drowned.  It 
is  therefore  much  in  request  with  seafaring  peo- 
ple, and  may  be  seen  among  the  advertisements 
of  our  newspapers  when  to  be  disposed  of  at  a 
considerable  price. 

r'     Cramp.     For  this  affection  many  charms  in 
verse  are  extant.    The  following  is  from  Pepys's 
Diary  :'* 

"  Cramp,  be  thou  faintless, 
As  our  Lady  was  sinless 
When  she  bare  Jesus." 

Rings  have,  however,  constituted  the  principal 
means  for  the  prevention  or  cure  of  cramp. 
They  may  be  of  various  kinds,  and  were  fre- 
quently composed  of  iron  that  had  previously 
l-Jformed  the  hinges  of  a  coffin.  Andrew  Boorde, 
who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  speaking 
of  the  cramp  says,  "  The  kynges  majesty  hath 
a  great  helpe  in  this  matter,  in  hallowynge 
crampe  ryngss,  and  so  given  without  money  or 
petition."  Also  "  the  kynges  of  Englande  doth 
halow^e  every  yere  crampe  rynges,  ye  which 
rynges  worne  on  ones  fynger  doth  helpe  them 
whych  hath  the  crampe."  This  ceremonial 
was  practised  by  previous  sovereigns  and  dis- 
continued by  Edward  VI.  Queen  Mary  in- 
tended to  revive  it;  but  does  not  appear  to  have 

*  Vol.  i.,  p.  324. 


CHARMS.  117 

carried  her  intentions  into  effect.  Hospinian* 
gives  an  account  of  the  ceremony,  and  states 
that  it  was  performed  upon  Good  Friday,  and 
that  it  originated  from  a  ring  which  had  been 
brought  to  King  Edward  by  some  persons  from 
Jerusalem,  and  one  which  he  himself  hath  long 
before  given  privately  to  a  poor  petitioner  wlio 
asked  alms  of  him  for  the  love  he  bore  to  St. 
John  the  Evangelist.  This  ring  was  preserved 
with  great  veneration  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  whoever  was  touched  by  this  relic  was  said 
to  be  cured  of  the  cramp  or  of  the  falling  sick- 
ness.f  Burnet  acquaints  usj  that  Bishop  Gar- 
diner was  at  Rome  in  1529,  and  that  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  Ann  Boleyn,  by  which  it  appears  that 
Henry  VIII  blessed  the  cramp  rings  before  as 
well  as  after  the  separation  from  Rome,  and  that 
she  sent  them  as  great  presents  thither.  "  Mr. 
Stephens,  I  send  you  here  cramp  rings  for  you 
and  Mr.  Gregory  and  Mr.  Peter,  praying  you 
to  distribute  them  as  you  think  best..  Ann 
Boleyn."  Burnet  adds,  "  the  use  of  them  had 
been  (it  seems)  discontinued  in  King  Edward's 
time,  but  now,  under  Queen  Mary,  it  was  de- 
sis'ned  to  be  revived,  and  the  office  for  it  was 
written  out  in  a  fair  manuscript,  yet  extant,  ot 
which  Burnet  has  put  a  copy  in  his  collection^ 

*  De  Origine  Festor.  Christianor. 

t  See  also  Polydore  Virgil,  lib.  viii. 

j  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.,  p.  644,  ed.  1829. 

§  No.  2.5,  vol.  ii.,  part  2,  pp.  414-17.  The  office  of  con- 
secrating the  cramp-rings  printed  by  Burnet  is  from  a  MS.  m 
Biblioth.  R.  Smith,  London.  Beckett  has  also  given  the 
Form  of  Prayer  in  his  Collection  of  Records,  No.  V.  See 
also  Waldron's  Literary  Museum. 


118  CHARMS. 

s 

The  silence  in  the  writers  of  that  time  makes 
him  think  it  was  seldom,  if  ever,  practised. 

In  the  Liber  Nifjer  Domus  Re^is  Edw.  IV, 
IS  inserted,  "  Item,  to  the  kynge's  offerings  to 
the  crosse  on  Good  Friday,  out  from  the  coun- 
tyng-house  for  medycinable  rings  of  gold  and 
silver,  delyvered  to  the  jevvell  house,  xxv  s." 

Incuhus.  Stones  with  holes  through  them 
were  commonly  called  hag-stones,  and  w^ere 
often  attached  to  the  key  of  the  stable  door  to 
prevent  witches  riding  the  horses.  One  of  these 
suspended  at  the  bed's  head  was  celebrated  for 
the  prevention  of  night-mare.  It  is  mentioned 
by  Burton,  Browne,  Grose,  and  several  other 
authors.  The  superstition  is  thus  noticed  in 
Lluellin's  Poems : 

"  Some  the  night-mare  hath  prest 
With  that  weight  on  their  hrest, 

No  returnes  of  their  breath  can  passe, 
But  to  us  the  tale  is  addle, 
We  can  take  ofT  her  saddle, 

And  turn  out  the  night-mare  to  grasse."  (p.  36.) 


».- --^^ 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  UPON 

THE  BODY. 

"  Medical  cannot  be  separated  from  moral  science,  without 
reciprocal  and  essential  mutilation."  Reid. 

The  various  cases  now  adduced  in  which 
talismans,  amulets,  and  charms  have  been  em- 
ployed, either  to  avert  or  to  cure  different  dis- 
eases, are,  in  any  explanation  that  can  be  offered, 
to  be  referred  to  the  influence  of  the  mind 
over  the  functions  of  the  body.  The  occa- 
sional cures  that  have  followed  their  employ- 
ment can  only  be  attributed  to  the  operation  of 
the  imagination,  by  which  it  is  possible  that 
changes  may  have  been  effected  in  the  human 
body  and  healthy  action  induced.  The  effi- 
ciency of  charms  has  been  in  proportion  to 
the  ignorance  of  the  age  in  which  they  have 
been  used,  and  the  consequent  degree  of  super- 
stition entertained,  at  a  period  when  the  hallu- 
cinations of  the  imagination  were  permitted  to 
usurp  the  place  of  observation,  and  the  greatest 
puerilities  superseded  theemployment  of  reason 
and  experiment.  In  early  times,  therefore,  the 
instances  are  numerous  —  they  are  now  compa- 
ratively rare,  and  occur  only  in  districts  not  re- 
markable for  intellectual  enlightenment.  The 
force  of  imagination  and  the  power  of  fear  exer- 


^ 


/ 


120     THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND 

cised  OQ  the  animal  economy  are  admitted  by 
every  one,  but  the  limits  to  which  their  opera- 
tions are  to  be  assigned  no  one  can  desisfnate. 
Medical  observers  constantly  meet  with  extra- 
ordinary changes  produced  upon  the  body  from 
passions  of  the  mind  or  sudden  emotions. 
Jaundice  has  been  known  to  occur  almost  in- 
stantaneously upon  a  violent  fit  of  anger,  or 
within  twenty-four  hours  of  the  receipt  of  bad 
intelligence  or  the  occurrence  of  unexpectedly 
severe  losses.  The  hair  which  was  jet  black 
shall  in  a  few  hours  lose  its  colour,  be  deprived 
of  its  natural  secretion,  and  turn  gray  or  white, 
and  this  may  be  either  partial  or  general. 

"  For  deadly  fear  can  time  outgo, 
Andblaunch  at  once  the  hair." —  {Marmion.) 

Some  remarkable  instances  of  this  kind  are 
to  be  found  in  Schenckius.*  One  of  a  noble 
Spaniard,  Don  Diego  Osorio,  who  being  in  love 
with  a  young  lady  of  the  court,  had  prevailed 
with  her  for  a  private  conference  within  the 
gardens  of  the  king ;  but  by  the  barking  of  a 
little  dog  their  privacy  was  betrayed,  the  young 
gentleman  seized  by  the  king's  guard  and  im- 
prisoned. It  was  capital  to  be  found  in  that 
place,  and  therefore  he  was  condemned  to  die. 
He  was  so  terrified  at  hearing  this  sentence, 
that  one  and  the  same  night  saw  the  same  per- 
son young  and  old,  being  turned  gray,  as  in 
those  stricken  in  years.  The  gaoler,  moved  at 
the  sight,  related  the  accident  to  King  Ferdinand 

*  Observ.  Med.  Rarior.,  p.  2. 


UPON    THE    BODY.  121 

as  a  prodigy,  who  thereupon  pardoned  him, 
saying,  he  had  been  sufficiently  punished  for 
his  fault.  A  nobleman  of  the  Roman  court  was 
also  detected  in  an  intrigue,  cast  into  prison,  and 
sentenced  to  be  decapitated  on  the  morrow. 
When  brought  before  the  Emperor  Csesar  he 
was  so  altered  by  the  apprehension  of  death  that 
his  identity  was'questioned  ;  the  comeliness  and 
■  beauty  of  his  face  being  vanished,  his  counte- 
nance like  a  dead  man's,  his  hair  and  beard 
j  turned  gray,  and  in  all  respects  so  changed  that 
the  emperor  caused  strict  examination  of  him 
to  be  made,  and  to  ascertain  whether  his  hair 
and  beard  had  not  been  changed  by  art ;  this, 
however,  being  satisfactorily  proved  not  to  be 
the  case,  the  emperor,  moved  to  pity,  graciously 
pardoned  him.  The  Hon.  Robert  Boyle  men- 
tions partial  cases  which  occurred  during  the 
Irish  rebellion.  Borelli  gives  an  instance  of  a 
French  gentleman,  who  upon  being  thrown 
into  prison  was  so  powerfully  affected  by  fear, 
that  his  hair  changed  completely  to  a  gray  in 
the  course  of  the  nioht.  He  was  released  and 
the  hair  recovered  its  colour.* 

The  effects  of  fear  upon  the  body  are  appa- 
rent in  many  other  ways.  An  approach  to  the 
door  of  a  dentist  by  one  labouring  under  tooth- 
ache has  often  been  found  a  sure  means  of  ba- 
nishing violent  pain.  Fright  has  frequently 
cured  ague  and  other  disorders  of  a  periodical 
haracter;  even  fits  of  the  gout  have  been  ter- 
minated in  the  same  manner.     Paralysed  mus- 

*  Cent,  i.,  Obs.  37. 
11 


122  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

cles,  and  limbs  that  were  useless,  have  suddenly 
been  thrown  into  action,  and  hemorrhages  have 
as  instantaneously  been  checked.  Tlie  same 
causes  productive  of  disease  have  been  found 
also  to  effect  their  cure.  Dr.  Pfeuffer  knew  a 
girl  in  the  vicinity  of  Wurzburg,  who,  after 
being  deaf  for  several  years,  instantlv  reoained 
er  hearing  upon  being  made  acquainted  with 
the  sudden  death  of  her  father.  Every  one  has 
heard  of  the  treatment  proposed  by  the  cele- 
brated Boerhaave,  to  restrain  imitative  e[)ilepsy 
by  branding  the  next  who  should  be  affected 
with  a  hot  iron.  Dr.  Scott  relates  a  case  in 
which  a  threat  to  apply  a  red-hot  iron  to  the 
feet  of  a  boy  who  had  been  frequently  attacked 
with  epilepsy  upwards  of  a  year,  was  perfectly 
successful  in  preventing  the  recurrence  of  the 
disease. 

A  variety  of  conjectures  might  be  offered  to 
account  for  many  of  these  phenomena,  but  none 
would  be  perfectly  satisfactorv  to  the  minute 
and  philosophical  inquirer.  Too  much  atten- 
tion, however,  cannot  be  paid  to  that  mysterious 
union  which  exists  between  mind  and  bodv. 
The  ancients  were  well  convinced  of  this,  though 
they  effected  little  towards  turning  their  opinion 
to  advantage.  Plato  savs,  "The  ofhce  of  the 
physician  extends  equally  to  the  purification  of 
mind  and  body;  to  neglect  the  one  is  to  expose 
the  other  to  evident  peril.  It  is  not  only  the 
body  that  by  its  sound  constitution  strengthens 
the  soul,  but  the  well-regulated  soul  by  its  au- 
thoritative power  maintains  the  bodv  in  perfect 
health."     The  mind  without  the  body,  nor  the 


UrON   THE    BODY.  123 

body  without  llie  mind,  cannot  be  well.  "  Non 
sine  animo  corpus,  nee  sine  corpore  animus  bene 
valere  potest." 

Sir  Alexander  Crichton,  in  his  admirable 
work  on  '  Mental  Derangement,'  in  which  he 
has  no  less  powerfully  than  philosophically  de- 
lineated the  several  passions  and  their  varied 
operations,  observes,  that  "  the  passions  are  to 
be  considered,  in  a  medical  point  of  view,  as  a 
part  of  our  constitution,  which  is  to  be  examined 
with  the  eye  of  a  natural  historian,  and  the  spirit 
and  impartiality  of  a  philosopher."  At  a  meet- 
ing (lb34)  of  the  British  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science, Dr.  Abercrombie  drew 
the  attention  of  the  medical  section  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  study  of  mental  philosophy. 
He  urged  the  propriety  of  treating  it  as  a  branch 
of  physiology,  and  recommended  the  cultivation 
of  it  on  strict  philosophical  principles  as  a  science 
of  observation,  and  as  likely  to  yield  laws,  prin- 
ciples, or  universal  facts,  which  might  be  ascer- 
tained with  the  same  precision  as  the  laws  of 
physical  science.  He,  however,  abjured  all  spe- 
culations respecting  the  nature  and  essence  of 
mind,  and  contended  for  the  necessity  of  con- 
fining these  researches  to  a  simple  and  careful 
study  of  its  operations.  The  purposes  to  which 
this  study  should  be  applied,  in  the  opinion  of 
this  learned  physician  and  most  excellent  man, 
were  the  education  of  the  young  and  the  culti- 
vation of  a  sound  mental  discipline  at  any  period 
of  life  —  the  intellectual  and  moral  treatment  of 
insanity  —  the  prevention  of  this  disease  in  in- 
dividuals in  whom  there  exists  the  hereditary 


l'^4  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

predisposition  to  it  —  and  the  study  of  mental 
science  as  the  basis  of  a  philosophical  logic. 
.    Too  little  attention  is  paid  by  physicians  in 
general  to  the  influence  of  the  mind  or  the  ope- 
rations of  the  passions  in  the  production  and  in 
the  removal  of  disease.     We  know,  it  is  true, 
that  some  of  the  passions  excite  whilst  others 
depress;  and  we  see  how^  quickly  and  how  often 
permanently  changes  are  produced  in  the  offices 
of  different  parts  of  the  body.     Whilst  anger, 
on  the  one  hand,  accelerates  the  progress  of  the 
blood,  hurrying  on  the  circulation  with  fearful 
impetuosity,   to  the  destruction  of  either  the 
brain  or  the  organs  contained  within  the  chest ; 
grief,  on  the  other,  depresses  the  action  of  the 
heart,  and  causes  serious  accumulations  in  the 
larger  vessels  and  in  the  luners.     Grief  has  not 
inaptly  been  styled  "a  heavy  executioner;  no- 
thing more  crucifies  the  soul,  nor  overthrows 
the  health  of    the   body  than   sorrow."     The 
Psalmist  beautifully  expresses   it :    "  My  soul 
melteth    away    for   very   heaviness."       Shak- 
speare's  picture  is  not  more  true  morally  than 
physically,  when  he  makes  Macbeth  to  ask  the 
physician  : 

"  Canst  thou  minister  to  a  mind  diseas'd. 
Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow. 
Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain, 
And  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 
Cleanse  the  stufF'd  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart  ?"'^ 

*  Mr.  Collier's  excellent  edition.  Steevens  substituted  the 
word  foul  for  stuff'd,  which  is  in  the  old  copies.  Stuffed, 
however,  is  the  right  word,  and  justly  expresses  the  sensation 


UPON    THE    BODY.  125 

Violent  grief  may  be  speedy  and  fatal  in  its 
effects,  but  that  which  is  slow  and  continued  is 
most  inimical  to  health.  It  undermines  the 
strongest  and  best  of  constitutions,  and  is  the 
cause  of  a  long-  catalog-ue  of  diseases.  The 
energy  of  the  nervous  system  is  weakened,  the 
functions  are  carried  on  in  a  slow  and  an  un- 
equal manner,  so  that  in  these  cases  the  body 
and  soul  may  literally  be  said  "  reciprocally  to 
prey  on  each  other." 

"  'Tis  painful  thinking  that  corrodes  our  clay." 

(Armstrong.) 

From  the  operation  of  anger  or  of  grief,  either 
in  excess  or  under  a  modified  condition,  various 
disorders  may  arise ;  and  to  the  influence  of  the 
passions  generally,  therefore,  in  health  as  well 
as  in  disease,  should  the  attention  of  the  medical 
practitioner  be  directed.  It  has  been  well  said 
by  Dr.  Reid,  that  he  who  in  the  study  or  the 
treatment  of  the  human  machinery,  overlooks 
the  intellectual  part  of  it,  cannot  but  entertain 
very  incorrect  notions  of  its  nature,  and  fall  into 
aross  and  sometimes  fatal  blunders  in  the  means 
which  he  adopts  for  its  regulation  or  repair. 
Intellect  is  not  omnipotent;  butits actual  powder 
over  the  organized  matter  to  which  it  is  attached 
is  much  greater  than  is  usually  imagined.     The 

experienced;  there  is,  however,  an  unpleasant  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  word  stuff"  occurring  so  soon  after  it,  and  Mr.  C. 
observes  that  the  error,  if  there  be  any,  lies  in  the  last  word 
of  the  line  ;  probably  there  may  have  been  some  error  by  the 
printer. 

11* 


126  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

anatomy  of  the  mind,  therefore,  should  be  learnt, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  body  ;  the  study  of  its  con- 
stitution in  general,  and  its  peculiarities,  or  what 
may  be  technically  called  its  idiosyncrasies,  in 
any  individual  case,  ought  to  be  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  essential  branches  of  a  medical 
education. 

The  power  of  the  mind  exerted  over  the  body 
has  been  rendered  conspicuous  by  many  re- 
markable cases  on  record : 

v_   ' 

"  Men  may  die  of  imagination, 
So  depe  may  impression  be  take."    •      ^ 
(Chaucer  —  The  Milleres  Tale,  v.  3612.) 

Fienus*  mentions  an  instance  of  a  malefactor 
who  was  carried  out,  as  he  conceived,  to  execu- 
tion ;  and  in  order  thereto  his  cap  was  pulled 
over  his  eyes,  and  a  cold  wet  cloth  being 
stuck  hastily  about  his  neck,  he  fell  down  dead, 
under  the  conceit  of  his  decapitation.  Charronf 
records  a  similar  case  :  A  man  having  his  eyes 
covered  to  be  put  to  death,  as  he  imagined  — 
being  condemned,  —  and  uncovering  them  again 
to  receive  his  pardon,  was  found  really  dead  on 
the  scaffold.  It  is  commonly  told,  but  I  am  un- 
acquainted with  the  authority,  that  a  person, 
w^as  directed  to  be  bled  to  death;  his  eyes  were 
blinded  and  he  was  made  to  believe,  by  water 
trickling^  down  his  arm,  that  the  sentence  was 
being  carried  into  effect.     The  mimicry  is  said 

*  De  Viribus  Imaginationibus  tractatus.    Lugd.  Bat.  Elzev. 
1635,  2  tom.  12mo. 

t  De  la  Sagesse,  liv.  iii.,  cap.  6. 


UPON    THE    EODY.  127 

to  have  produced  bis  death  as  effectually  as 
would  the  real  operation.  The  powers  of  life 
were  destroyed  by  the  power  of  his  imagina- 
tion. 

Excessive  joy  has  been  known  to  occasion 
death  equally  with,  nay,  more  frequently  than, 
fear  and  terror.    Sir  Alexander  Crichton  relates, 
that  "in  the   year   1544  the  Jewish   pirate,  Si- 
namus  Taffurus,  was  lying  in  a  port  of  the  Red 
Sea,  called  Arsenoe,  and  was  preparing  for  war, 
beinor  then  eno-ao-ed  in  one  with  the  Portuguese. 
•  While  he  was  there  he  received  the  unexpected 
intelligence  that  his  son,  who  in  the  siege  of 
Tunis  had  been  made  prisoner  by  Barbarossa 
and  by  him  doomed  to  slavery,  was  suddenly 
ransomed,  and   coming  to  his  aid  with  seven 
ships  M'ell  armed.     The  joyful  news  was  too 
much  for  him :  he  was  immediately  struck  as 
with    an   apoplexy,  and  expired  on  the  spot. 
Valei'ius  Maximus*   relates  the   case    of  tAvo 
women,  matrons,  who  died  with  joy  on  seeing 
their  sons  return  safe  from  battle  at  the  lake 
Thrases.     One  died  while  embracing  her  son; 
the  other  was  suddenly  surprised  by  the  sight 
of  her  son  while  she  was  deeply  lamenting  his 
supposed   death.     Sophocles,   at  an   advanced 
age  and  in  the  full  possession  of  his  intellectual 
power,  composed  a  tragedy,  which  was  crowned 
with  such  success  that  he  died  through  joy. 
Chilon  of  Lacedemon  died  from  joy  wdiilst  em- 
bracing his  son,  who  had  borne  away  the  prize 
at  the  Olympic  Games.     Juventius  Thalma,  to 

*  Lib.  ix.,  cap.  12, 


128  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

whom  a  triumph  was  decreed  for  subjugating 
Corsica,  fell  down  dead  at  tlie  foot  of  the  altar 
at  which  he  was  offering  up  his  thanksgiving. 
Fouquet,  upon  receiving  the  intelligence  of 
Louis  XIV  having  restored  him  to  liberty,  fell 
down  dead.  There  are  many  cases  of  a  similar 
nature  on  record. 

The  cases  of  sudden  death  !"rom  powerful 
emotions  and  unexpected  joys  or  sorrow  are 
numerous  in  the  writings  of  the  ancients.  They 
are  doubtless  to  be  attributed  to  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  means  of  the  nervous  system  acting  ' 
chiefly  upon  other  organs,  particularly  those 
which  appertain  to  the  sanguiferous  system, 
where  either  disease  or  a  strong  predisposition 
to  it  had  previously  existed.  Most  of  the  cases 
of  sudden  death  which  now  occur  —  and  they 
have  been  lamentably  numerous  of  late  —  are 
shown  by  dissection  to  arise  from  disorder  of 
the  heart  or  its  large  vessels.*     Some  years 

*  Sympathy  appears  to  exert  itself  more  particularly  be- 
tween the  mind  and  certain  organs  of  the  body  than  with 
others.  Any  excitement  of  the  mind  quickens  the  circulation, 
and  occasions  the  heart  to  palpitate,  that  is,  to  beat  quickly 
and  tremulously.  Senac  (Traite  du  Coeur,  torn,  ii.,  p.  454), 
quotes  a  case  from  Blancard  of  a  person,  who,  being  witness 
to  a  dreadful  shipwreck,  Avas  so  operated  upon  by  distress  and 
terror,  that  palpitation  of  the  heart,  succeeded  by  oppressed 
breathing,  syncope,  and  death  ensued.  Upon  examination, 
the  heart  was  found  enlarged.  The  same  author  mentions 
other  fatal  cases  occasioned  by  mental  emotions  and  passions 
in  those  in  whom,  upon  examination,  the  heart  was  found  un- 
natural and  unhealthy.  Next  to  the  heart,  the  organs  of  di- 
gestion seem  most  susceptible  of  the  effects  from  mental  emo- 
tions ;  and  an  ingenious  writer,  Mr.  Fletcher,  of  Gloucester, 
has  ventured  to  designate  the  effect  of  the  passions  upon  the 


UPON    THE    BODY.  129 

since  it  was  customary  to  refer  any  ca.-^e  of  sud- 
den death  to  apoplexy,  and  at  an  earlier  period 
to  the  effects  of  fear,  joy,  or  other  violent  pas- 
sions. St.  Bernard^  describes  anger,  joy,  fear, 
and  grief  as  the  wheels  of  a  coach,  by  which  we 
are  carried  in  this  world :  "Hsequatuor  passiones 
sunt  tanqnam  rotse  in  curru  qiiibus  vehemur  in 
hoc  mundo." 

Sir  Astley  Cooper,  in  his  lectures  on  surgery, 
was  accustomed  to  relate  some  instances  bearing 
upon  the  subject  under  consideration.  The 
effects  of  fear  in  destroying  your  best  efforts  to 
relieve  injuries  are  well  known  to  any  surgeon 
of  experience.  Sir  Astley  says  that  he  has  often 
known  patients  declare,  after  an  accident,  that 
they  were  sure  they  should  not  recover,  and 
they  seemed  to  be  deprived  of  all  restorative 

stomach  as  a  "  Mental  Indigestion,"  in  contradistinction  to 
that  dyspepsia  which  arises  from  physical  causes.  The  reci- 
procity of  action  between  certain  passions  and  certain  organs 
is  a  subject  highly  deserving  of  investigation.  Fear,  as  al- 
ready stated,  produces  its  most  decided  effects  upon  the  heart, 
and  it  is  the  especial  condition  of  all  who  have  disease  of  this 
organ  to  be  under  continual  apprehension  and  dread.  Irrita- 
bility of  temper  is  always  consequent  upon  disordered  condi- 
tions of  the  liver  and  diijestive  oi'sans.  Voltaire  knew  this 
well  when  he  said,  "  Q.uand  vous  avez  le  matin  une  griice  a 
demander  a  un  ministre  ou  ;i  un  p;-emier  coramis  de  ministre, 
informez  vous  adroitemcnt  s'il  a  le  ventre  libre  ;  il  faut  tou- 
jours  prendre  mgUia  fundi  fempora.  Personne  n'ignore  que 
notre  caractere  et  notre  tour  d'esprit  dependent  absolurnent 
de  la  garde-robe.  11  y  a  une  grande  analogic  entre  les  intes- 
tines et  nos  passions,  notre  maniere  de  penser,  notre  conduitc." 
Dryden  and  other  eminent  authors  have  not  been  insensible 
to  the  necessity  of  healthy  alimentary  function  to  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  mental  power. 
*  Serm.  35. 


130  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

power.  I  have  often  witnessed  instances  of  this 
kind.  A  gentleman  consulted  Sir  A.  Cooper, 
and  he  was  found  to  have  a  stone  in  his  bladder. 
"  I  hope  not,"  says  he,  "  for  I  never  can  submit 
to  an  operation."  He  returned  to  the  country, 
and  died  in  a  few  days  after.  Mr.  Cline  ope- 
rated for  a  tumour  in  the  breast  of  a  lady.  She 
felt  certain  the  operation  would  kill  her;  but 
she  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  her  friends, 
submitted  to  it,  and  it  was  performed  with  great 
skill,  and  unattended  by  anything  remarkable. 
She  however  died  only  one  hour  after  the  opera- 
tion; and  it  was  found  that  she  had  arranged 
her  family  and  domestic  concerns  in  such  a 
manner,  that  no  confusion  should  arise  from 
what  she  thouorht  her  inevitable  doom. 

A  school-mistress,  for  some  trifling  offence, 
most  foolishly  put  a  child  into  a  dark  cellar  for 
an  hour.  The  child  was  greatly  terrified  and 
cried  bitterly.  Upon  returning  to  her  parents 
in  the  evening,  she  burst  into  tears,  and  begged 
that  she  might  not  be  put  into  the  cellar ;  the 
parents  thought  this  extremely  odd,  and  assured 
her  that  there  was  no  danorer  of  their  beinff 
guilty  of  so  great  an  act  of  cruelty  ;  but  it  was 
difficult  to  pacify  her,  and  when  put  to  bed  she 
passed  a  restless  night.  On  the  following  day 
she  had  fever,  during  which  she  frequently  ex- 
claimed, "Do  not  put  me  in  the  cellar."  The 
fourth  day  after,  she  was  taken  to  Sir  A.  Cooper, 
in  a  high  state  of  fever,  with  delirium,  frequently 
muttering,  "Pray  don't  put  me  in  the  cellar." 
t%^^  When  Sir  Astley  inquired  the  reason,  he  found 

that  the  parents  had  learnt  the  punishment  to 


UPON    THE    BODY.  131 

which  she  had  been  subjected.  He  ordered 
what  was  hkely  to  relieve  lier,  but  she  died  in 
a  week  after  tliis  unfeeHug  conduct. 

Another  case  from  the  same  authority  may 
here  be  cited.     It  is  the  case  of  a  child,  ten 
years  of  age,  who  wanted  to  write  her  exercise, 
and,  to  scrape  her  slate  pencil,  went  into  the 
school  in  the  dark  to  fetch  her  knife,  when  one 
of  her  school-fellows  burst  from  behind  the  door 
to  frighten  her.     She  was  much  terrified,  and 
her  liead  ached.     On  the  following  day  she  be- 
came deaf,  and  on  the  next,  so  much  so  as  not 
to  hear  the  loudest   talking.     Sir  Astley  saw 
her  three  months  after  this  had  ha'ppened,  and 
she  continued  in  a  deplorable  state  of  deafness. 
Platerus^  relates  a  case  of  fatal  convulsions 
produced  by  terror.     Some  young  girls  went 
one  day  a  little  way  out  of  town  to  see  a  person 
who  had  been  executed,  and  who  was  hung  in 
chains.     One  of  them  threw  several  stones  at 
the  gibbet,  and,  at  last,  struck  the  body  with 
such  violence  as  to  make  it  move;  at  which  the 
girl  was  so  much  terrified,  that  she  imagined 
the  dead  person  was  alive,  came  down  from  the 
gibbet,  and  ran  after  her.     She  hastened  home, 
and  not  being  able  to  conqner  the  idea,  fell  into 
strong  convulsions  and  died. 

An  extraordinary  case  of  the  effects  of  fear  is 
recorded  by  Dr.  'Bateman.f  A  middle-aged 
woman,  in  previous  good  health,  was  thrown 
into  a  state  of  crreat  fright  and  alarm  upon  dis- 


*  Ohserv.  lib.  i.,  p.  30. 

t  Ediub.  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  vol.  v.,  p.  127. 


Ili2  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

covering  in  the  evening  that  she  had  lost  her 
little  store  of  money,  the  savings  of  several 
years,  and  the  next  morning  she  was  anasarcous 
from  head  to  foot.  By  judicious  treatment  she 
recovered. 

Convidsions,  epilepsy,  madness,  and  idiocy 
have  all  been  produced  by  fear  and  terror.  The 
wife  of  Schenckius*  was  attacked  with  epilepsy, 
from  a  fright  occasioned  by  a  fire.  She  had 
previously  been  in  robust  health,  but  at  this 
time  w^as  in  the  last  month  of  pregnancy.  She 
died  in  twelve  hours. 

A  boy,  fifteen  years  of  age,  was  admitted  an 
inmate  of  the  Dundee  Lunatic  Asylum,  having 
become  imbecile  from  fright.  When  twelve 
years  of  age  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  light  busi- 
ness, and  some  trifl.ing  article  being  one  day 
missing,  he  was,  along  with  others,  locked  up 
in  a  dark  cellar.  The  children  were  much 
alarmed,  and  all  w- ere  let  out,  with  the  exception 
of  this  poor  boy,  who  was  detained  until  past 
midnioht.  He  became  from  this  time  nervous 
and  melancholy,  and  sank  into  a  state  of  insen- 
sibility, from  which  he  will  never  recover.  The 
missino;  article  was  found  on  the  followino- 
morning,  exculpating  the  boy  from  the  guilt 
with  which  he  had  been  charged.  Dr.  Scottf 
relates  a  case  of  convulsions  occasioned  by  fear, 
from  a  butcher-boy  running  after  another,  ten 
years  of  age,  threatening  to  kill  him  ;  and  also 
the  case  of  a  girl,  eight  years  of  age,  in  whom, 

*  Observ.  Medic  ,  lib.  i.,  p.  128, 

t  Edinb.  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  vol.  xliii.,  p.  328. 


UPON  THE  BODY.  133 

from  panic,  inflammation  of  the  membranes  of 
the  brain,  accompanied  by  defective  sight  and 
hearing,  was  induced,  and  proved  fatal.  The 
same  authority  gives  also  an  instance  of  chorea 
excited  by  fear,  in  a  girl  of  thirteen,  from  seeing 
two  boys  quarrelling  in  the  street. 

During  the  prevalence  of  cholera,  many  per- 
sons, powerfully  impressed  by  fear  of  taking 
the  disease,  caused  such  disorder  of  the  system, 
that  in  several  instances  death  ensued.*  Dr. 
Crowther,  of  Wakefield,  saw  a  case  of  tetanus 
induced  by  terror,  occasioned  by  a  spectral  illu- 
sion. Tulpiusf  relates  a  case  of  Volvulus  ex 
Ira,  a  case  of  fatal  ileus,  occasioned  by  a  fit  of 
anger. 

Van  SwietenJ  mentions  the  case  of  a  boy  at- 
tacked with  epilepsy,  from  a  dog  leaping  on 
him  :  and  the  sioht  of  a  lar^e  doo;,  or  the  bark- 
ing  of  one,  frequently  induced  a  recurrence  of 
the  paroxysm. 

Dr.  Reid  witnessed  a  case  in  which  an  attack 
of  epilepsy  almost  immediately  followed  a  fit  of 
anger;  and  he  has  reported^,  the  case  of  a 
woman  approaching  to  absolute  blindness,  oc- 
casioned by  fright  at  witnessing  a  paroxysm  of 
epilepsy  with  which  her  husband  was  affected 
in  the  night.  In  one  eye  the  vision  was  com- 
pletely destroyed  ;  in  the  other  the  capacity  of 
seeing  was  intermittent,  "  going  and  coming," 

*  Lond.  Med.  and  Phys.  Journal,  vol.  Ixviii.,  p.  340. 
t  Observ.  Med.,  lib.  ii.,  n.  41. 
:j:  Comment,  in  H.  Boerhaavii  Apbor. 
§  Lond,  Med.  and  Phys.  Journal,  vol.  xiv.,  p.  15, 
12 


134  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

as  she  herself  described  it,  "like  the  sun  when 
a  cloud  passes  over  it."  The  nervous  system 
vvas  otherwise  affected,  as  a  certain  degree  of 
deafness  was  also  produced  by  the  same  cause. 

Dr.  Erdraan,  of  Dresden,  mentions  in  his 
'  Medical  Observations'  a  very  singular  pheno- 
menon which  he  witnessed  in  a  boy,  of  a  deli- 
cate complexion,  light  hair,  and  a  sanguine 
temperament.  Whenever  this  boy  fell  into  a 
passion  one  half  of  his  face  would  become  quite 
pale,  while  the  other  was  very  red  and  heated, 
and  these  two  colours  were  exactly  limited  by 
a  line  running  down  the  middle  of  the  forehead, 
nose,  lips,  and  chin.  When  this  boy  had  heated 
himself  by  any  violent  exercise,  the  whole  face 
became  equally  red. 

Fear  has  been  known  to  produce  hydrophobic 
symptoms.  A  remarkable  case  of  this  kind  was 
submitted  in  detail  to  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Paris,  in  1823.  M.  Buisson  had 
attended  a  woman  in  hydrophobia  ;  he  bled  her  : 
his  hands  were  smeared  with  the  blood,  and  he 
wiped  them  with  a  cloth  which  had  been  ap- 
plied to  remove  the  saliva  from  the  mouth  of  the 
patient.  JNI.  Buisson  had  an  ulceration  upon 
one  of  his  fingers  at  the  time,  which  circum- 
stance no  doubt  dwelt  upon  his  mind.  On  the 
ninth  day  after  his  attendance  he  was  suddenly 
seized  with  a  pain  in  his  throat  and  eyes,  the 
saliva  was  continually  discharo-inCT  itself  from 
his  mouth,  the  impression  of  a  current  of  air, 
the  appearance  of  a  shining  substance  occa- 
sioned him  painful  sensations,  his  body  seemed 


UPON   THE    BODY.  135 

to  him  so  light  that  he  felt  as  though  he  could 
leap  a  prodigious  height,  and  he  had  a  desire  to 
bite  —  not  men,  but  animals  and  inanimate 
bodies.  He  now  began  to  drink  with  difficulty, 
and  the  sight  of  water  was  exceedingly  distress- 
ing to  him.  He  traced  the  pain  of  his  throat, 
which  recurred  every  five  minutes,  as  extending 
from  his  finger  up  the  arm  to  the  shoulder  and 
neck.  He  conceived  himself  labouring  under 
hydrophobia  ;  and  horribly  impressed  by  its  fa- 
tality, he  resolved  to  terminate  his  existence  by 
stifling  himself  in  a  vapour-bath.  He  caused 
the  temperature  of  the  bath  to  be  raised  to  42°, 
(107°  36"  Fahr.),  when  he  was  equally  sur- 
prised and  delighted  to  find  himself  completely 
well.  He  left  the  bathing-room,  dined  heartily, 
drank  more  than  usual,  and  remained  perfectly 
free  from  all  complaint. 

The  '  Journal  de  Medecine'  gives  a  case  of 
a  medical  pupil  who  assisted  at  a  post-mortem 
examination  of  a  case  of  hydrophobia,  and 
imagined  that  he  had  inoculated  himself  with 
the  disease.  He  suffered  many  of  the  early 
symptoms  of  hydrophobia,  abandoned  himself  to 
despair,  and  wandered  about  the  streets  con- 
sidering his  doom  as  inevitably  fixed.  His 
friends,  however,  at  length  succeeded  in  reliev- 
ing his  depression  and  restoring  him  to  health. 

A  singular  case  of  the  depressing  effects  of 
terror  is  recorded  by  Pechlin.*^  A  lady  of 
quality  who,  in  the  year  1681,  had  several  times 
seen,  without  alarm,  the  wonderful  comet  which 

*  Lib.  iii.,  Obs.  23. 


136  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

then  appeared,  was  one  night  tempted  to  examine 
it  by  means  of  a  telescope ;  the  sight  of  it,  how- 
ever, in  this  way,  terrified  her  so  much  that  she 
was  with  difficulty  carried  safely  home  ;  and, 
the  impression  remaining,  she  died  in  a  few 
days  afterwards. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  the  effect 
of  terror  is  quoted  from  Bonetus*  by  Sir  Alex- 
ander Crichton.  It  was  a  case  of  catalepsy  — 
a  rare  disease,  in  which  the  action  of  the  will  is 
annihilated  by  the  disordered  condition  of  the 
brain  and  nervous  system.  "  George  Grokatzki, 
a  Polish  soldier,  deserted  from  his  regiment  in 
the  harvest  of  the  year  1677.  He  was  discovered 
a  few  days  afterwards,  drinking  and  making 
merry  in  a  common  ale-house.  The  moment 
he  was  apprehended  he  was  so  much  terrified, 
that  he  gave  a  loud  shriek,  and  immediately 
was  deprived  of  the  power  of  speech.  When 
brought  to  a  court-martial,  it  was  impossible  to 
make  him  articulate  a  word ;  nay,  he  then  be- 
came as  immoveable  as  a  statue,  and  appeared 
not  to  be  conscious  of  anything  which  was  going 
forward.  In  the  prison  to  which  he  was  con- 
ducted he  neither  ate  nor  drank  ;  neither  did  he 
make  any  water,  nor  go  to  stool.  The  officers 
and  the  priests  at  first  threatened  him,  and 
afterwards  endeavoured  to  soothe  and  calm  him, 
but  all  their  efforts  were  in  vain.  He  remained 
senseless  and  immoveable.  His  irons  were 
struck  off,  and  he  was  taken  out  of  the  prison, 
but  he  did  not  move.     Twenty  d^^s  and  knights 

*  Medic.  Septentrion,  lib.  i.,  sect,  xvi.,  cap.  6. 


UPON  THE  EODY.  137 

were  passed  in  this  way,  during  which  he  tojk 
no  kind  of  nourishment,  nor  had  any  natural 
evacuation  ;  he  then  gradually  sunk  and  died." 
The  most  singular  instance  of  the  power  of 
the  will  over  the  functions  of  the  body,  and, 
taken  altogether,  perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
case  on  record,  being  supported  by  the  testi- 
mony of  unquestionable  authority,  is  related  by 
Dr.  Cheyne  in  his  '  English  Malady.'  It  is  the 
case  of  the  Hon.  Colonel  Tovvnshend,  who  for 
many  years  had  suffered  from  an  organic  disease 
of  the  kidney,  by  which  he  was  greatly  ema- 
ciated. He  was  attended  by  Dr.  Cheyne,  Dr. 
Baynard,  and  Mr.  Skrine;  and  these  gentlemen 
were  sent  for  early  one  morning  to  witness  a 
singular  phenomenon.  He  told  them  he  had 
for  some  time  observed  an  odd  sensation,  by 
which,  if  he  composed  himself,  he  could  die  or 
expire  when  he  pleased,  and  by  an  effort  come 
to  life  again.  The  medical  attendants  were 
averse,  in  his  weak  state,  to  witness  the  experi- 
ment ;  but  he  insisted  upon  it,  and  the  following 
is  Dr.  Cheyne's  account:  "We  all  three  felt 
his  pulse  first :  it  was  distinct,  though  small 
and  thready,  and  his  heart  had  its  usual  beating. 
He  composed  himself  on  his  back,  and  lay  in  a 
still  posture  some  time  ;  while  1  held  his  right 
hand.  Dr.  Baynard  laid  his  hand  on  his  heart, 
and  Mr.  Skrine  held  a  clean  looking-glass  to 
his  mouth.  I  found  his  pulse  sink  gradually, 
till  at  last  I  could  not  feel  any  by  the  most  exact 
and  nice  touch.  Dr.  Baynard  could  not  feel 
the  least  emotion  in  his  heart,  nor  Mr.  Skrine 
the  least  soil  of  breath  on  the  bright  mirror  he 

12* 


138  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

held  to  his  mouth ;  then  each  of  us  hy  turns 
examined  his  arm,  heart,  and  breath  ;  but  could 
not,  by  the  nicest  scrutiny,  discover  the  least 
symptom  of  life  in  him.  We  reasoned  a  long 
time  about  this  odd  appearance  as  well  as  we 
could,  and  all  of  us  judging  it  inexplicable  and 
unaccountable,  and  hnduig  he  still  continued  in 
that  condition,  we  began  to  conclude  that  he  had 
indeed  carried  the  experiment  too  far,  and  at  last 
were  satisfied  he  was  actually  dead,  and  were 
just  ready  to  leave  him.  This  continued  about 
half  an  hour,  by  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  in 
autumn.  As  we  were  going  away  we  observed 
some  motion  about  the  body,  and  upon  exami- 
nation found  his  pulse  and  the  motion  of  the 
heart  gradually  returning;  he  began  to  breathe 
gently  and  speak  softlj^ ;  we  were  astonished  to 
the  last  degree  at  this  unexpected  change,  and 
after  some  further  conversation  with  him,  and 
among  ourselves,  went  away  fully  satisfied  as 
to  all  the  particulars  of  this  fact,  but  confounded 
and  puzzled,  and  not  able  to  form  any  rational 
scheme  that  might  account  for  it.  He  after- 
wards called  for  his  attorney,  added  a  codicil  to 
his  will,  settled  legacies  on  his  servants,  received 
the  sacrament,  and  calmly  and  composedly  ex- 
pired about  five  or  six  o'clock  that  evening."* 
His  body  was  examined,  and  all  the  viscera, 
with  the  exception  of  the  right  kidney,  which 
was  greatly  diseased,  were  found  perfectly 
healthy  and  natural.  This  power  of  the  will, 
to  die  or  live  at  pleasure,  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the 


*  Pages  308-310. 


UPON   THE    BODY.  139 

most  remarkable  phenomena  connected  with  the 
natural  history  of  the  human  body.  Burton 
alludes  to  cases  of  the  same  kind,  and  reports 
that  the  celebrated  Cardan  bragored  he  could 
separate  himself  from  his  senses  when  he  pleased. 
Celsus  makes  reference  to  a  priest  who  possessed 
the  same  extraordinar}^  power. 

Hysteria  and  epilepsy  have  been  repeatedly 
induced  in  persons  of  a  nervous  temperament 
from  a  principle  of  imitation.  The  Romans 
called  the  latter  morbus  coniitialis,  from  its  hav- 
ing been  frequently  excited  in  the  Comitia, 
whence  it  was  afterwards  forbidden  for  anyone 
liable  to  the  disease  to  enter.  Dr.  Hardy,  of 
Bath,  has  recorded  some  cases  of  imitative  epi- 
lepsy.* A  healthy  young  man  had  the  care  of 
an  epileptic  patient,  and  lie  also  became  epileptic 
in  the  highest  degree  from  witnessing  the  parox- 
ysms. A  friend  of  this  young  man  also  became 
epileptic  from  occasionally  visiting  him  and  ob- 
serving the  fits.  Highly  excited  states  of  the 
nervous  system,  particularly  under  impressions 
of  a  religious  nature,  have  produced  convulsions 
and  epileptic  attacks ;  and  these  occurring 
amidst  assemblies  subject  to  the  same  influence 
have  occasioned  the  diseased  actions  to  partake 
of  an  epidemic  character.  A  most  remarkable 
instance  of  this  kind  occurred  in  1814,  in  Corn- 
wall, and  extended  its  effects  over  a  considerable 
part  of  the  county  and  to  several  thousands  of 
individuals.     Mr.  Cornish,  of  Falmouth,  gavef 

*  Lond.  Med.  Gazette,  vol   xi.,  p.  247. 

t  Lond.  Med,  and  Phys.  Journal,  vol.  xxxi.,  p.  373. 


140  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

a  curious  account  of  several  instances  in  which 
he  observed  the  effects  of  this  mental  excite- 
ment.    It  took  its  rise  in  a  Wesleyan  chapel 
in  Redruth,  and  extended  to  others  of  the  same 
denomination    in    Camborne,    Helston,    Truro, 
Penryn,  and  Falmouth.     During    the  time  of 
divine  service,  a  man  called  out  loudly  and  un- 
expectedly, "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  and 
expressed  a  most  alarming  apprehension  as  to  the 
state  of  his  soul.     The   example  thus  set  was 
speedily  followed,  and   the  individual  affected 
seemed  to  suffer  great  bodily  ])ain.    This  circum- 
stance becoming  known, hundreds  flocked  to  the 
chapel  from  curiosity,  and  many  became  similarly 
affected.     The  chapel  was  kept  open  for  several 
nights  and  days,  and  the  manifestations  not  be- 
ing checked,  but,  on   the  contrary,  rather  pro- 
moted by  the  preachers,  who  availed  themselves 
of  such  an  opportunity  to  convert  sinners,  the 
emotion  extended  itself  rapidly.     The  attacks 
experienced  are  described  by  Mr.  Cornish  as  of 
a  nature,  in  the  first  instance,  resembling  attacks 
of  chorea,  which  afterwards  would  assume  either 
the  character  of  hysterical  or  epileptical  attacks, 
and  continue,  in  some  instances,  for  not  less  than 
seventy  or  eighty  hours.     Children    from    six 
years  of  age  to  old  men  of  eighty  were  thus  af- 
fected, but  the  cases  were  mostly  of  girls  and 
3^oung  women.     They  were  chiefly  persons  of 
the  lowest  class  and  in  deplorable  ignorance. 
Mr.  Cornish  estimates  the  number  of  persons 
affected  as  not  being  fewer  than  four  thousand. 
He  was  not  acquainted  with   a  single  case  in 
which   it   proved  fatal.     Similar   instances  of 


UPON  THE  BODY.  141 

convulsions,  produced  by  sympathy,  are  to  be 
found  in  the  '  Statistical  account  of  Scotland," 
occurring  in  Angusshire  and  Lanarkshire  :  some 
have  also  been  reported  by  Dr.  Haygarth  in  North 
Wales,  and  by  Dr.  Roberts  in  Tennessee.* 

*  In  Pike's  '  Voyage  up  the  Mississippi'  there  is  a  curious 
account  of  the  superstitions  of  the  American  Indians  ;  and 
among  other  things  he  notices  the  effects  produced  by  their 
peculiar  dances,  to  one  of  which  he  was  an  eyewitness. 
The  men  and  women  danced  indiscriminately.  They  were 
all  dressed  in  their  gayest  manner ;  each  of  them  holding  a  small 
skin  of  some  kind  in  their  hands.  They  frequently  ran  up 
to,  pointed  their  skin,  and  pufied  with  their  breath,  or  blew 
at  each  other.  The  person  thus  blown  on,  whether  man  or 
woman,  would  instantly  fall,  and  appear  almost  lifeless,  or  in 
great  agony,  —  would  recover  slowly,  rise,  and  again  join  in 
the  dance.  This  is  called  their  great  medicine,  or  the  dance 
of  religion.  The  bystanders  actually  believe  that  something 
is  puffed  or  blown  into  each  other's  body,  which  produces  the 
falling  and  other  effects  which  take  place.  All  the  Indians 
are  not  of  the  initiated.  They  must  first  make  presents  of 
forty  or  fifty  dollars  value  to  the  society,  and  give  a  feast, 
when  they  are  admitted  with  great  ceremony.  Mr.  Fraser 
said  he  was  once  in  a  lod2;e  with  some  vouns  men,  when  one 
of  these  dancers  entered  :  they  immediately  threw  their  blank- 
ets over  him,  and  forced  him  out.  On  his  laughing  at  them, 
the  young  Indians  called  him  a  fool,  and  said  he  did  not  know 
what  the  dancer  could  blow  into  his  body. 

A  gentleman  at  Abingdon,  in  Virginia,  has  also  given  an 
account  of  one  of  the  camp-meetings  in  the  Western  States, 
in  which  convulsions  are  frequently  excited.  He  tells  us 
that  persons  who  have  been  greatly  affected  at  these  meetings 
have  been  exercised  in  various  ways.  They  laugh,  they  sing, 
they  dance  ;  and,  as  it  would  appear,  all  this  is  involuntarily 
done,  being  what  the  preachers  call  "  religious  exercises  ;" 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  are  not  the  offspring  of  free 
will.  There  is  one  species  of  these  "  religious  exercises" 
which  appears  to  be  involuntary,  and  that  has  spread  from 
the  camp  and  other  religious  meetings  in  an  alarming  man- 


142  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

Dr.  Haygarlli  rendered  no  little  service  to  his 
profession,  and  to  mankind,  by  his  able  exposi- 
tion of  the  quackery  of  the  metallic  tractors. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  present  century 
a  quackery  prevailed,  in  which  it  was  contended 
that  certain  diseases  could  be  cured  by  merely 
drawinf^  over  the  parts  affected  certain  pieces 
of  metal  called  tractors.  They  w^ere  introduced 
by  a  person  of  the  name  of  Perkins.  The  ex- 
traordinary effects  reported  of  their  operation 
were,  by  some,  attempted  to  be  accounted  for 
by  a  supposed  galvanic,  electric,  or  magnetic 
influence,  exerted  over  the  disease  by  the  pecu- 
liar composition  of  the  metals  of  which  the  trac- 
tors consisted  ;  but  it  is  not  always  found  prac- 
ticable, either  in  physic  or  philosophy,  to  dis- 

ner.  These  are  called  the  "  jerks."  Some  of  those  afTected  with 
this  disorder  will  rise  up,  and,  with  their  eyes  fixed  and  start- 
ing, make  their  feet  roll  upor  the  floor.  But  generally  the 
person  who  has  this  disorder,  is  vexed  with  a  perpetual  con- 
vulsive jerking  in  all  his  limbs.  Some  of  them  are  said  to 
have  vaulted  and  appeared  as  if  they  would  have  dashed 
themselves  to  pieces,  if  not  prevented.  In  one  man  affected 
with  this  disorder  there  were  not  five  seconds  of  time  during 
which  some  of  his  limbs,  his  back,  or  his  spine,  were  not  drawn 
with  a  sudden  jerk,  in  one  direction  or  another.  There  was 
a  muster  of  some  militia  companies,  and  three  or  four  of  the 
jerkers  were  in  the  town,  and  no  sooner  did  the  drums  begin 
to  beat  than  they  found  themselves  so  violently  jerked,  that 
they  were  forced  to  decamp  with  all  practical  speed.  Several 
persons  have  taken  this  disorder  who  have  no  religion  at  all. 
Sucking  children  are  reported  not  to  be  exempt  from  it ;  and 
a  wild  young  man,  either  from  seeing  the  jerkers  or  shaking 
hands  with  them,  is  reported  to  have  taken  the  disorder  with 
great  violence.  The  jerks  were  considered  as  a  nervous  disease, 
generally  produced  by  horror  very  strongly  excited. 


UPON    THE    BODY.  143 

cover  the  canse  and  effect  of  certain  conditions. 
Dr.  Haygarth  resolved  upon  putting  the  metallic 
tractors  to  the  test  of  experiment,  and,  commu- 
nicating his  intentionsto  his  friend  Dr.  Falconer, 
he  selected  five  patients  from  the  General  Hos- 
pital at  Bath,  and  submitted  them  to  the  ope- 
ration of  a  pair  of  false  tractors,  or  such  as  he 
had  himself  made,  being  composed  not  of  metal 
but  of  wood,  yet  so  painted  as  to  resemble  the 
metallic  ones  in  colour.  The  diseases  under 
which  the  patients  thus  selected  laboured  were 
various,  and  of  a  chronic  character,  gout  and 
rheumatism  ;  and  they  had  been  ill  several 
months.  Upon  the  affected  parts  being  stroked 
in  the  lightest  manner  by  these  pieces  of  wood, 
the  patients  all  declared  themselves  relieved; 
three  of  them  were  particularly  benefited,  and 
one  immediately  improved  so  much  in  his  walk- 
ing that  he  had  great  pleasure  in  exhibiting 
proofs  of  the  benefit  he  had  received.  One  said 
he  felt  a  tingling  sensation  for  two  hours.  Si- 
milar experiments  with  wood,  slate  pencil,  to- 
bacco pipes,  &c.,  were  made  at  the  Bristol  In- 
firmary with  the  same  results;*  and  the  fame 
attendino;  tliese  cures  was  so  spread  abroad,  that 
more  patients  crowded  for  relief  than  time  could 
be  afforded  to  bestow   upon  them.     Men  that 

*  Dr.  Alderson,  physician  to  the  Hull  Infirmary,  also  re- 
peated Dr.  Haygarth's  experiments,  and  with  the  same  results. 
A  detail  of  several  cases  is  given  in  the  London  Medical  and 
Physical  Journal,  (vol.  iv.,  p.  100,)  and  clearly  proves  that 
it  remained  with  the  operator  either  to  produce  ease  or  to  in- 
flict  sufiering,  according  to  the  manner  he  pleased  to  exercise 
with  his  patient,  through  the  means  of  the  imagination. 


144  INFLUENCE    OF   THE    MIND 

were  unable  to  lift  up,  or  to  use  their  arms  in 
any  way,  were,  after  the  application  of  the  sup- 
posed metallic  tractors,  speedily  enabled  to  carry 
coals,  and  other  matters  of  considerable  weight, 
with  comparative  ease.  The  results  attending 
these  cases  were  so  remarkable,  that  nothing 
short  of  their  having  been  publicly  done  and  at- 
tested by  witnesses  of  unimpeachable  veracity 
could  satisfy  one  of  their  truth. 

The  cases  recorded  by  Dr.  Haygarth*  go  far 
to  explain  how  miraculous  cures  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  empirical  remedies;  many  of  which 
are  composed  of  substances  most  inert  in  their 
nature,  ^t  is  the  confidence  of  the  quack  and 
the  hope  of  the  patient  which  work  the  cure. . 
Disease  is  well  known  to  depress  the  powers  of 
the  understandinof  as  well  as  the  vigour  of  the 
muscular  system,  and  will  also  deprave  the 
judgment  as  well  as  the  digestion,  '--h-  sick 
person  is,  in  particular,  extremely  credulous 
about  the  object  of  his  hopes  and  fears.]  Who- 
ever promises  him  health  may  easily  obtain  his 
confidence,  and  he  soon  becomes  the  dupe  of 
quacks  and  ignorant  pretenders.  "  Ne  vau- 
droit-il  pas  mieux  qu'il  fiit  dans  celles  d'un 
medecin  eclaire?"f 

Medical  faith  is  a  matter  of  very  great  import- 
ance in  the  cure  of  diseases,  and  Dr.  Haygarth 
was  quite  justified  in  expressing  his  wish  never 
to  have  a  patient  who  did  not  possess  a  suffi- 

*  On  the  Imagination,  as  a  Cause  and  as  a  Cure  of  Dis- 
orders of  the  Body.     Bath,  1800,  8vo. 
t  Cabanis. 


UPON   THE   BODY.  145 

cient  portion  of  it.  A  doctor  being  asked  the 
question,  why  he  could  not  cure  his  mother-in- 
law  as  well  as  his  father  ?  wittily  replied,  that  his 
mother-in-law  had  not  the  same  confidence,  or 
rather  fancy  for  him,  as  his  father  had,  otherwise 
the  cure  would  have  been  effected.  The  adminis- 
tration of  new  medicines,  without  possessing  any- 
thing particularly  novel  or  powerful,  will  fre- 
quently induce  an  amendmentin  the  disease:  this 
may  probably  arise,  in  some  instances,  from  the 
presence  of  a  new  stimulus  to  which  the  frame 
has  heretofore  not  been  accustomed  ;  but  in  the 
majority  of  cases  it  will  be  found  to  be  the  re- 
sult of  an  effect  of  the  imagination.  Hippocrates 
admitted  that  that  physician  performed  most 
cures  in  whom  the  patients  placed  the  greatest 
reliance.  Medicines  when  prescribed  by  a  phy- 
sician of  celebrity  have  been  known  to  succeed 
better  in  his  hands  than  that  of  other  persons. 
Where  faith  is  wanting  little  success  is  to  be 
expected.  The  influence  of  hope  is  necessary 
to  procure  relief,  and  the  alleviation  or  removal 
of  diseases  is  in  a  great  number  of 'cases  depend- 
ent upon  the  condition  of  the  mind.  An  agree- 
ment between  the  mind  and  the  body  is  con- 
stant ;  and  Sterne  truly  though  singularly  ex- 
pressed this  opinion,  when  he  said,  "  The  body 
and  mind  are  like  a  jerkin  and  a  jerkin's  lining, 
rumple  the  one  and  you  rumple  the  other," 

Dr.  Paris*  has  related  an  anecdote,  commu- 
nicated to  him  by  the  late  JMr.  Coleridge,  which 

*  Pharmacologia,  p.  28. 
13 


146  INFLUENCE    OF   THE    MIND 

strikingly  illustrates  the  power  of  the  imagina- 
tion  in   relieving   disease.     "As   soon    as   the 
powers  of  nitrous  oxide  were  discovered,  Dr. 
Beddoes  at  once  concluded  that  it  must  neces- 
sarily be  a  specific  for  paralysis ;  a  patient  was 
selected  for  the  trial,  and  the  management  of  it 
was  intrusted  to  Sir  Humphry  Davy.     Previous 
to  the  administration  of  the  gas,  he  inserted  a 
small  pocket  thermometer  under  the  tono-ue  of 
the  patient,  as  he  was  accustomed   to  do  upon 
such  occasions,  to  ascertain  the  degree  of  animal 
temperature,  with  a  view  to  future  comparison. 
The  paralytic  man,  wholly  ignorant  of  the  nature 
of  the  process  to  which  he  was  to  submit,  but 
deeply  impressed,  from  the  representation  of  Dr. 
Beddoes,  with  the  certainty  of  its  success,  no 
sooner  felt  the  thermometer   under  his  tongue 
than  he  concluded  the  talisman  was  in  full  opera- 
tion, and  in  a  burst  of  enthusiasm  declared  that 
he  already  experienced  the  effect  of  its  benign 
influence  throughout  his  whole  body  :  the  oppor- 
tunity was  too  tempting  to  be  lost ;  Davy  cast  an 
intelligent  glance  at  Coleridge,  and  desired  his 
patient,  to  renew  his  visit  on  the  following  day, 
when  the  same  ceremony  was  performed,  and 
repeated   every  succeeding  day  for  a  fortnight, 
the  patient  gradually  improving   during   that 
period,  when   he  was  dismissed  as  cured,  no 
other  application  having  been  used." 

-Professor  Woodhouse,  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Mitchell  of  New  York,  has  given  a  recital  which 
also  tends  to  show  what  singular  effects  can  be 
caused  if  the  imagination  be  previously  and 
duly  prepared  for  the  production  of  wonders. 


UrON  THE  BODY.  147 

At  the  time  that  nitrous  oxide  excited  almost 
universal  attention,  several  persons  were  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  breathe  the  gas ;  and  the  pro- 
fessor administered  to  them  ten  gallons  of  atmo- 
spherical air,  in  doses  of  from  four  to  six  quarts. 
Impressed  with  the  idea  that  they  were  inhaling 
the  nitrous  oxide,  quickness  of  the  pulse,  dizzi- 
ness, vertigo,tinnitusaurium, difficulty  of  breath- 
ing, anxiety  about  the  breast,  a  sensation  similar 
to  that  of  swinging,  faintness,  weakness  of  the 
knees,  and  nausea  which  lasted  from  six  to  eis^ht 
hours  were  produced  —  symptoms  entirely 
caused  by  the  breathing  of  common  air,  under 
the  influence  of  an  excited  imacrination. 

The  consideration  of  such  cases  as  those  now 
referred  to  should  lead  all  who  practise  medicine 
to  look  particularly  to  the  mental  condition  of 
their  patients.  Tliere  is  no  subject  of  greater 
importance  to  the  medical  man,  as  well  as  to  the 
philosopher  in  general,  than  the  consideration 
of  the  influence  exerted  by  the  mind  upon  the 
vital  functions  of  the  body.  The  operation  of 
the  moral  feelings  and  emotions  in  the  produc- 
tion of  corporeal  disease  is  far  from  being  yet 
understood.  I  have  but  briefly  touched  upon  it 
in  these  pages  as  a  means  of  explaining  many 
circumstances  which  have  been  formerly  attri- 
buted to  miraculous  and  supernatural  causes; 
and  I  have  given  evidence  only  of  those  stronger 
and  more  remarkable  cases  or  events  which 
have  appeared  to  me  to  show  most  conspicuously 
the  connexion  I  have  endeavoured  to  point  out. 
The  minuter  shades  of  disease,  produced  by 
mental  condition,  would,  however,  form  a  topic 


148  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

of  vast  interest  and  importance  to  the  medical 
philosopher,  and  it  is  very  much  to  be  regretted 
that  so  little  attention  has  hitherto  been  paid  to 
the  subject.     Research,  in  such  a  field  of  in- 
quiry, I  doubt  not,  would  display  many  pheno- 
mena, which  in  ancient   times  were  attributed 
to  celestial  or  supernatural  influence,  and  latterly, 
to  magnetic  and  other  causes,  which  might  be 
satisfactorily  referred  to  the  operations  of  the 
nervous  system  alone  without  the  supervention 
of  other  agency.     The  modus  operandi  is  not 
understood,  and  the  opinions  entertained  by  phy- 
siologists are  various.     Bichat  contended   that 
grief,  anger,  dread,  and   melancholy,  all  acted 
not  upon  the  brain,  but  upon  the  heart  and  the 
organs  of  the  circulation,  and  that  whatever  le- 
sion in  the  brain  or  nervous  system  could  be  dis- 
covered was  dependent  upon   the  intermediate 
influence  of  the  heart.     The  influence  of  the 
passions  in  modifying  the  nutritive  processes  is 
indeed  very  remarkable,  and   has  been  charac- 
terized in  ordinary  language.     Thus  we  con- 
stantly  hear   of    "  pining    with   envy,"    being 
"gnawed  by  remorse,"  or  "wasted   by  melan- 
choly."    Hence  it  will  be  seen  how  essential  it 
is  that  medical  practitioners  should  attend  with 
patience  to  the  recital  of  the  maladies  of  those 
by  wdiom  they  are  consulted,  and  cheer  their 
depressed  spirits  by  sympathy  and  consolation. 
This  can  be  done  without  anv  sacrifice  of  cha- 
racter  or  abatement  of  self-respect  and  indepen- 
dence. 

The  instances  I  have  cited  are  sufficient  to 
show  the  power  of  the  mind  over  the  body,  and 


UPON    THE    BODY.  149 

the  influence  it  exercises  in  health  and  in  dis- 
ease. To  apply  them  to  the  cases  in  which, 
charms,  &c.,  have  'been  employed,  we  must 
look  at  the  character  of  the  diseases,  and  we 
shall  not  fail  to  find  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  are 
such  as  to  be  especially  under  the  influence  of 
the  nervous  and  sani^uiferous  systems.  I  have 
no  intention  of  explaining  all  the  narratives  I 
have  given  in  this  manner ;  that  would  be  im- 
possible, and  the  attempt  ridiculous;  for  I  hold 
with  Southey,  that  "there  is  no  truth,  however 
pure,  and  however  sacred,  upon  which  falsehood 
cannot  fasten,  and  engraft  itself  thereon." 

The  charms  for  agues,  and  the  number  of 
cures  vouched  for,  we  have  already  seen  are 
most  numerous.  They  are,  perhaps,  to  be  attri- 
buted to  the  operation  of  fear  or  horror  occa- 
sioned by  their  odious  and  disgustful  nature, 
being  composed  of  spiders,  toads,  and  lizards; 
or  to  the  confidence  reposed  in  the  pomp  and 
ceremony  of  a  magical  process,  by  which  tone 
is  imparted  to  the  system.  Fear  and  hope,  as 
Milton  has  observed,  are  always  concomitant 
passions. 

With  regard  to  pestilential  diseases,  physicians 
know  that  contagion  is  more  likely  to  prevail 
amons:  those  in  whom  fear  predominates  than 
in  otliers.  The  hope  entertained,  by  the  pos- 
session of  a  charm,  to  avert  pestilence,  may 
have  operated  in  many  instances  so  as  to  coun- 
teract the  taking  of  the  plague,  for  which  dis- 
ease such  numerous  amulets  have  been  found. 

Hemorrhage  is  known  to  be  suppressed  by 

13* 


150  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND 

fright,  which  throws  back  the  blood  from  the 
extreme  branches  to  the  larger  vessels  about  the 
heart.     Syncope  produces' the  same  effect. 

Epilepsy  and  other  nervous  disorders  have 
frequently  been  produced  by  fright,  and  are 
especially  under  the  control  of  mental  emotions. 
The  sight  of  a  person  in  an  epileptic  fit,  as 
already  mentioned,  has  frequently  produced  the 
same  disease  in  others  who  had  not  before  ex- 
perienced it ;  and  so  strong  is  the  principle  of 
imitation  in  our  nature,  and  so  powerfully  does 
it  act  upon  us  when  weakened  by  disease,  that 
epilepsy  is  a  disorder  not  admitted  into  many  of 
our  hospitals.  Hysteria  may  be  considered  in 
the  same  point  of  view.  The  relief  afforded  in 
these  cases,  and  in  others  of  a  convulsive  nature 
by  relics  of  saints,  charms,  &c.,  can  only  be  at- 
tributed to  the  prepossession  entertained  of  their 
efficacy  in  curing  the  disease. 

Hiccup  is  a  convulsive  action,  and  commonly 
checked  by  affecting  surprise  or  alarm. 

The  cures  attributed  to  the  prayers  of  Prince 
Hohenlohe  were  all  of  cases  of  a  nervous  cha- 
racter :  palsy,  lameness,  defect  of  sight,  hearing, 
&c.  Dr.  Pfeuffer,  the  directing  physician  of  the 
Universal  Hospital  of  Bamberg,  in  his  Psycho- 
logical and  Medical  Researches  respecting  these 
cases,*  asserts  that  they  were  all  chronic  disor- 
ders—  not  one  of  an  acute  character.  The  cures 
were  undertaken  without  ostentation  or  mystery, 
nor  was  there  any  particular  manipulation  exer- 
cised.    The  zeal  and  energy,  and  self-confidence 

*  See  Horn's  Archives  for  1822. 


UPON   THE    BODY.  151 

of  the  prince  increased  with  the  various  cases 
that  pressed  upon  him,  and  the  crowd  of  appU- 
cants  participated  with  him  in  the  feehng-  and 
excitement.  In  short,  all  miraculous  cures  are 
of  the  same  description,  the  disorders  are  simi- 
lar, and  the  effects  described  are  precisely  the 
same.  It  is  faith  which  works  the  miracle,  and 
in  the  Hohenlohe  cases  depended  entirely  upon 
the  decree  of  religious  feeling  or  enthusiasm 
entertained  by  the  sick. 

In  the  Journal  of  George  Fox*  a  case  of 
lameness  suddenly  relieved  by  an  unexpected 
address  under  a  state  of  religious  ecstasy,  is  thus 
recorded  :  "  After  some  time  I  went  to  a  meetino^ 
at  Arn-side,  where  Richard  Myer  was.  Now 
he  had  been  long  lame  of  one  of  his  arms ;  and 
I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  say  unto  him 
amongst  all  the  people,  Prophet  Myer,  stand  up 
upon  thy  legs,  (for  he  was  sitting  down,)  and 
he  stood  up,  and  stretched  out  his  arm,  that  had 
been  lame  a  long  time,  and  said,  '  Be  it  known 
unto  you,  all  people,  that  this  day  I  am  healed.' 
But  his  parents  could  hardly  believe  it;  but 
after  the  meeting  was  done,  had  him  aside,  and 
took  off  his  doublet :  and  then  they  saw  it  was 
true.  He  came  soon  after  to  Swarth-more  meet- 
ing, and  there  declared  how  that  the  Lord  had 
healed  him.  Yet  after  this  the  Lord  commanded 
him  to  go  to  York  with  a  message  from  him  ; 
and  he  disobeyed  the  Lord ;  and  the  Lord  struck 
him  again,  so  that  he  died  about  three-quarters 
of  a  year  after." 

•  Vol.  i.,  p.  103,  edit.  Lond.  1794. 


15-2  INFLUENCE    OF    THE    MIND,    ETC. 

An  attentive  consideration  of  the  various  sym- 
pathies would,  I  doubt  not,  enable  us  to  explain 
many  of  the  phenomena  that  have  been  recorded, 
and  which,  without  a  due  knowledge  of  the 
human  economy,  may  justly  be  looked  upon  as 
of  a  miraculous  nature. 


ROYAL  GIFT  OF  HEALING- 


Malcolm.  -Comes  the  king  forth,  I  pray  you  ? 

Doctor.   A.y,  sir  :  there  are  a  crew  of  wretched  souls, 
That  stay  his  cure  :  their  malady  convinces 
The  great  assay  of  art ;  but  at  his  touch, 
Such  sanctity  hath  heaven  given  his  hand, 
They  presently  amend. 

Malcolm.  I  thank  you,  doctor.     [Exit  Doctor. 

Macduff.  What's  the  disease  he  means  1 

Malcolm.  'Tis  call'd  the  evil : 

A  most  miraculous  work  in  this  good  king. 
Which  often,  since  my  here  remain  in  England, 
I  have  seen  him  do.     How  he  solicits  heaven. 
Himself  best  knows  ;  but  strangely-visited  people, 
All  swoln  and  ulcerous,  pitiful  lo  the  eye. 
The  mere  despair  of  surgery,  he  cures  ; 
Hanging  a  golden  stamp  about  their  necks. 
Put  on  with  holy  prayers :  and  'tis  spoken, 
To  the  succeeding  royalty  he  leaves 
The  healing  benediction. 

Macbeth,  Act  iv.,  Sc.  3. 

The  credulity  of  mankind  has  never  been 
more  strongly  displayed  than  in  the  general  be- 
lief afforded  to  the  authenticity  of  remarkable 
cures  of  diseases  said  to  have  been  effected  by 
the  imposition  of  royal  hands.  The  practice 
seems  to  have  originated  in  an  opinion  that  there 
is  somethinof  sacred  or  divine  attaching^  either 
to  the  sovereio-n  or  his  functions.  The  testi- 
monies  offered  by  writers  on  this  subject,  and 


154  ROYAL    GIFT 

the  number  of  witnesses  recorded,  are  too  great 
and  too  indisputable  to  need  reference.  No  one 
appears  to  have  questioned  the  vaUdity  of  the 
means,  and  no  one  has  attempted  to  explain  the 
results  obtained,  but  in  connexion  with  the 
sanctity  of  the  operator. 

The  practice  appears  to  be  one  of  English 
growth,  commencing  with  Edward  the  Confes- 
sor, and  descending  only  to  foreign  potentates 
who  could  show  an  alliance  with  the  royal 
family  of  England.  The  kings  of  France,  how- 
ever, claimed  the  right  to  dispense  the  Gift  of 
Healing,  and  it  was  certainly  exercised  by 
Philip  the  First;  but  the  French  historians  say 
that  he  was  deprived  of  the  power  on  account  of 
the  irregularity  of  his  life.  Laurentius,*  first 
physician  to  Henry  IV,  of  France,  who  is 
indignant  at  the  attempt  made  to  derive  its 
origin  from  Edward  the  Confessor,  asserts  the 
power  to  have  commenced  with  Clovis  I,t  a.d. 
481,  and  says  that  Louis  I,  a.d.  814,  added  to 

*  Laurentius  (Andreas)  De  Mirabili  Strumas  sanandi  vi 
Solis  Galliae  Regibus  Christianissimis  divinitus  concessa. 
Paris,  1609,  12mo. 

f  See  also  Mezeray  and  Daniel,  Histoire  de  France. 
Among  other  stories  related  of  the  Holy  Oil,  the  Standard  of 
France,  &c.,  one  (according  to  a  MS.,  No.  2903,  art.  45,  in 
the  Sloane  Collection  in  the  British  Museum)  is  that  God 
gave  Clovis  (a.d.  496)  the  gift  of  curing  the  king's  evil,  and 
that  he  proved  it  on  Lancier,  or  Lanciet,  his  favourite.  An- 
other states  that  "  Peter  appeared  to  the  monk  Brightvvold, 
giving  him  a  cruse  of  oile,  and  'told  him  that  whome  he 
anointed  therewith  should  be  king,  and  have  power  to  cure  the 
people  by  his  touch,  which  was  done  in  the  person  of  Edward 
the  Confessor." 


OF    HEALING.  155 

the  ceremonial  of  toucliing,  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
Mezeray  also  says,  that  St.  Louis,  through  hu- 
mility, tirst  added  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  touch- 
ing for  the  king's  evil :  "  D.  Ludovicus  huic 
ritui  de  suo  pie  add  id  it  signaculum  crucis  et 
sequens  curatio  inquit."  Laurentius  contends 
that  the  power  belonged  to  the  kings  of  France 
only  ;  and  that  it  descended  to  them  by  heredi- 
tary right  and  by  sacred  unction  :  "  Solis  Fran- 
cise  Regibus  per  traducem  hfereditariam  Regni, 
et  sacram  unctionem  facnltas  hsec  conceditur." 
(p.  21.)  He  reports  of  Francis  I,  that  when  a 
prisoner  in  Spain  he  cured  a  great  number  of 
people  of  struma.  Of  this  sovereign,  Lascaris 
has  written  : 

''  Ergo  manu  admota  sanat  Rex  Chseradas  :*  estque 
CaptivLis  superis  gratus  ut  ante  fuit. 
Indicio  tali,  regum  sanclissime,  qui  te 
Arcent,  invisos  suspicor  esse  Deis." 

This  is  quoted  by  Jeremy  Collier  as  an  epi- 
gram thus  : 

"  Hispanos  inter  sanat  Rex  Chaeradas,  estque  : 
Captivus,  superis  gratus  ut  ante  fuit  ;"t 

which  clearly  means  that  a  sanative  virtue  was 
annexed  to  his  person,  and  did  not  disappear 
with  the  loss  of  his  liberty.  An  ingenious  and 
learned  friend  has  thus  paraphrased  the  verses: 

*  That  is,  struma,  scrofula  or  king's  evil,  from  x^'-f^-^' 
\   [Among  the  Spaniards  king  rhrcrndas  cures. 

Though  a  captive,  he  is  still  favoured  by  the  Gods.] 


156  ROYAL    GIFT 

"  The  king  applies  his  hand,  diseases  fly, 
And  though  a  captive,  still  the  powers  on  high 
Regard  his  touch.     This  striking  proof  is  giv'n, 
That  they  who  bound  him  are  the  foes  of  Heav'n." 

In  the  church  of  St.  Maclou,  in  St.  Denys, 
Heylin  (Cosmograph.,  p.  184),  says  the  kings 
of  France,  with  a  fast  of  nine  days  and  other 
penances,  used  to  receive  the  gift  of  healing  the 
king's  evil  with  nothing  but  a  touch.  Philip 
de  Comines  states,  that  the  king  always  con- 
fessed before  the  cure  of  the  king's  evil.  Butler 
(Lives  of  the  Saints,  vol.  viii.,  p.  394)  says, 
"  The  French  kings  usually  only  perform  this 
ceremony  on  the  day  they  have  received  the 
holy  communion."  The  historians  who  write 
under  the  first  two  families  of  the  French  kings 
are  altogether  silent  as  to  the  kings'  curing  the 
evil  by  the  touching.  (Veyrard  Trav.,  p.  109.) 
Philip  of  Valois  is  reported  to  have  cured  1400 
people  afflicted  with  the  king's  evil.  Of  Louis 
XIIl,  it  was  said  that  he  had  assig-ned  all  his 
power  to  Cardinal  Richelieu,  except  that  of  cur- 
ing the  king's  evil.  Carte*  says,  some  of  the 
French  writers  ascribe  the  gift  of  healing  to 
their  kind's  devotion  towards  the  relics  of  St. 
Marculf,  in  the  church  of  Corbigny,  in  Cham- 
pagne;  to  which  the  kings  of  France,  imme- 
diately after  their  coronation  at  Rheims,  used 
to  go  in  solemn  procession.  A  veneration  was 
also  paid  to  this  saint  in  England,  and  a  room 
in  memory  of  him,  in  the  palace  of  Westmin- 
ster, has  frequently  been  mentioned  in  the  Rolls 

*  History  of  England,  vol.  i.,   Jb.  iv.,  sect.  42. 


OF    HEALING.  157 

of  Parliament,  and  which  was  called  the  Cham- 
ber of  St.  Marculf,  heing,  as  Carte  conjectures, 
probably  the  place  where  the  kings  used  to 
touch  for  the  evil.  This  room  was  afterwards 
called  the  Painted  Chamber.  The  French 
kings  practised  the  touch  extensively.  Gemelli, 
the  traveller,  states,  that  Louis  XIV  touched 
1600  persons  on  Easter  Sunday,  1686.  The 
words  he  used  were,  "  Le  Roy  te  touche,  Dieu 
te  guerisse.*  Every  Frenchman  received  fifteen 
sous,  and  every  foreigner  thirty. t  The  French 
kings  kept  up  the  practice  to  1776. 

If  credit  is  to  be  given  to  a  statement  (pre- 
sently to  be  noticed)  by  William  of  Malmes- 
bury,  with  respect  to  JEdward  the  Confessor, 
we  must  admit  that  in  England,  for  a  period  of 
nearly  700  years,  the  practice  of  the  royal  touch 
was  exercised  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree,  as  it 
extended  to  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  It  must 
not,  however,  be  supposed  that  historical  docu- 
ments are  extant  to  prove  a  regular  continuance 
of  the  practice  during  this  time.  No  accounts 
whatever  of  the  first  four  Norman  kings  at- 
tempting to  cure  the  complaint  are  to  be 
found.  In  the  reign  of  William  III,  it  was 
not  on  any  occasion  exercised.  He  manifested 
more  sense  than  his  predecessors,  for  he  with- 
held from  employing  the  royal  touch  for  the 
cure  of  scrofula  ;  and  Rapin  says,  that  he  was 
so  persuaded  he  should  do  no  injury  to  persons 
afflicted  with  this  distemper  by  not  touching 

*   [The  king  touches  thee,  may  God  cure  thee.] 

t  See  Barrington's  Observations  on  the  Statutes,  p.  107. 

14 


158  ROYAL    GIFT 

them,  that  he  refrained  from  it  all  his  reign. 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  also  averse  to  the  prac- 
tice, yet  she  extensively  performed  it.  It  flou- 
rished most  in  the  time  of  Charles  II,  particu- 
larly after  his  restoration,  and  a  public  register 
of  cases  was  kept  at  Whitehall,  the  principal 
scene  of  its  operation. 

Edward  the  Confessor.  The  power  of 
Edv/ard  the  Confessor  has  beenreadilyadmitted. 
Jeremy  Collier,*  speaking  of  the  many  virtues 
and  miraculous  powers  of  Edward,  says,  "that 
this  prince  cured  the  king's  evil  is  beyond  dis- 
pute :  and  since  the  credit  of  this  miracle  is  un- 
questionable, I  see  no  reason  why  we  should 
scruple  believing  the  rest."  He  then  quotes 
William  of  Malmesbury  as  his  authority,  goes 
on  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  disease,  and 
adds,  "  King  Edward  the  Confessor  was  the 
first  that  cured  this  distemper,  and  from  him  it 
has  descended  as  an  liereditanj  miracle  upon  all 
his  successors.  To  dispute  the  matter  of  fact,  is 
to  go  to  the  excesses  of  skepticism,  to  deny  our 
senses,  and  be  incredulous  even  to  ridiculous- 
ness." 

It  is  unnecessary  now  to  prove  the  folly  of  the 
statements  made  in  relation  to  this  power;  they 
are  self-evident  to  us  at  this  period.  If  the  effi- 
cacy of  the  touch  were  dependent  upon  the 
hereditary  x\g\\t  of  succession,  that  condition  was 
soon  destroyed,  for  the  succession  was  repeatedly 
interrupted,  yet  the  power  is  reported  to  have 
remained.     Neither  did  it  appertain  solely  to 

*  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Great  Britain,  vol.  i.,  p.  225. 


OF    HEALING.  159 

those  of  the  Romish  faith,  for  it  was  practised 
by  Elizabeth;  and  Carte  and  Collier  relate  a 
story  of  a  Roman  Catholic  who  lived  in  the  time 
of  this  Queen.  "This  person,"  says  Collier, 
"  who  was  very  firm  in  his  communion,  hap- 
pened to  be  thrown  into  prison,  probably  upon 
the  score  of  his  recusancy.  Being  thrown  into 
prison,  I  say,  he  grew  terribly  afflicted  then  wdth 
the  king's  evil ;  and  having  apply'd  himself  to 
physicians,  and  gone  through  a  long  fatigue  of 
pain  and  expense,  without  the  least  success,  at 
last  he  was  touched  by  the  Queen,  and  perfectly 
cured.  And,  being  asked  how  the  matter  stood 
with  him  ?  his  answer  was,  he  was  now  satisfy'd 
by  experimental  proof  that  the  Pope's  excom- 
munication of  her  Majesty  signify'd  nothing, 
since  she  still  continued  blessed  with  so  mira- 
culous a  quality."* 

William  of  Malmesburyf  relates  several  mi- 
racles performed  by  Holy  St.  Edward,  one  of 
which  refers  to  a  woman  affected  with  scrofula, 
wdiich  manifested  itself  by  an  extraordinary  en- 
largement of  the  cflands  of  the  neck.  Admo- 
nished  in  a  dream  to  have  the  parts  affected 
washed  by  the  king,  she  entered  the  palace,  and 
the  king  himself  fulfilling  this  labour  of  love, 
rubbed  the  woman's  neck  with  his  fingers  dipped 
in  water.  Joyous  health  followed  his  healing 
hand.     According  to  the  same  authority,  Ed- 


■  *  This  story  is  taken  from  Dr.  Tooker's  work  Charisma, 
seu  Donum  Sanitatis,  &c. 

t  Williehiii  Mahnesbiiriensis  de  Gestis  Regum  Anglorum, 
Ub,  ii.,  p.  91,  edit.  Francof.  1001,  folio. 


160  ROYAL    GIFT 

ward  had  often  previously  cured  this  complaint 
in  Normandy.     The  original  reads  thus: 

"  Porro  ut  jam  de  miraculis  dicam  ;  adolescentula  juxta 
parilitatem  natalium  virum  habens,  sed  fructu  conjugii  carens, 
luxuriantibus  circa  coUum  humoribus,  turpem  valetudinem 
contraxerat,  glandulis  protuberantibus  horrenda.  Jussa  som- 
nis  lavatrinam  regis  exquirere,  curiam  ingreditur,  rex  ipse  per 
se  opus  pietatis  ad  implens,  digitis  aqua  intinctis  collum  per- 
tractat  mulieris,  medicam  dextram  sanitas  festiva  prosequitur, 
laetalis  crusta  dissolvitur,  ita  ut  vermibus  cum  sanie  proflucnti- 
bus,  omnis  ille  noxius  tumor  recederet.  Sed  quia  hiatus  ulcerum 
foedus  et  patuhis  erat,  prfecepit  eam  usque  ad  integram  sani- 
tatem,  curialibus  slipcndiis  sustenlari ;  veruntarnen  ante  sep- 
timanam  exactam  ita  obductis  cicatricibus  vcnusta  cutis  rediit, 
ut  nihil  pra^teriti  morbi  discerneres;  post  annum  quoque  ge- 
minam  prolcm  enixa,  sanctitatis  Edwardi  miraculum  auxit. 
Multotienseum  in  Normannia  banc  pestem  sedasse  ferunt,  qui 
interius  ejus  vitam  noverunt.  Unde  nostro  tempore  quidam 
falsam  insinuunt  operam,  qui  asseverant  istius  morbi  curatio- 
nem  non  ex  sanctitate,  sed  ex  regalis  prosapia)  ^hereditate 
fluxisse."* 


*  [Moreover  I  shall  now  speak  of  miracles.  A  young 
married  woman,  but  childless,  was  afflicted  with  swellings 
about  her  neck,  and  fell  into  bad  health.  Being  commanded 
in  her  sleep  to  inquire  for  the  bath-room  of  the  king,  she 
entered  the  palace,  when  the  pious  king,  dipping  his  hands  into 
the  water,  and  stroking  her  neck,  soon  restored  her  to  a  happy 
state  of  health ;  the  tumours  that  were  filled  with  worms  and 
corrupt  blood  bursting  and  disappearing.  But  as  the  sores 
left  wide  and  disgusting  cavities,  he  ordered  her  to  be  sup- 
ported at  the  crown's  expense  till  perfectly  cured.  Before  the 
seventh  morning  a  beautiful  new  skin  appeared,  so  that  no 
vestiges  of  the  disease  could  be  perceived.  A  year  afterwards 
she  had  twins,  which  added  greatly  to  the  sanctity  of  Edward. 
It  is  said  by  those  who  knew  him  intimately,  that  he  frequently 
cured  this  complaint  in  Normandy.  Hence  in  our  days  those 
assert  falsely,  when  they  say  that  the  cure  of  this  disease  is 
not  to  be  attributed  to  godliness,  but  to  an  hereditary  royalty.] 


OF    HEALING.  161 

I  have  extracted  the  original  passage  from 
William  of  Malmesbury,  because  it  is  the  ear- 
liest mention  of  the  gift  of  healing  by  the  royal 
touch.     The  English  historians,  following  this 
writer,  have  repeatedly  cited  it,  but  it  is  remark- 
able that  no  other  author  at  or  near  the  time  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  has  alluded  to  the  sup- 
posed power  vested  in  him.     Ingulphus,*  abbot 
of  the  monastery  of  Croyland,  who  lived  in  his 
reign,  is  silent  respecting  it,  although  he  had 
personal  knowledge  of   him,  and  fails   not  to 
write  his  many  virtues  and  his  great  benefactions 
to  the  abbey  to  which  he  belonged.     Marianus 
Scotusf  the  monk  of  Mentz,  and  Florence  the 
monk  of  Worcester,:!:  two  historians  who  lived 
nearer  the  king's  time  than  W^illiam  of  Malmes- 
bury, are  equally  silent  respecting  it;  and  the 
bull  of  the  Pope  Alexander  III,  by  which  Ed- 
ward was  canonized  about  200  years  after  his  de- 
cease, makes  no  allusion  whatever  to  any  of  the 
cures  effected  by  him  through  the  imposition  of 
hands.     Ailred,  Alurecl,  or,  as  Tanner  spells  his 
name,  Ealred,  abbot  of  Rievaulx,  (a  Cistercian 
monastery,)  who  wrote  in  1164,  and  composed 
an   entire   book   of    the    life    and    miracles    of 
Edward,  makes,  however,  an   allusion    to   the 
case  in  which  he  is  reported  to  have  exercised 

*  Rerum  Anglicanim  Scriptorum  Veterum  a  Gale.  Oxon. 
1684,  torn,  i.,  p.  1.  But  Ingulphus  is  not  esteemed  a  high 
authority  by  antiquaries. 

t  Chronica  cum  M.  Poloni  supputationibus.  Basil,  1559, 
folio. 

J  Florcs  Historiarum  per  Mattheeum  Wetsmonastcriensem* 
collecti.     Fran(?of.  1601,  folio. 
14* 


162  ROYAL    GIFT 

this  power.*  These  facts  might  lead  one  to 
question  the  accuracy  of  William  of  Mahnesbury, 
and  to  suppose  that  he  has  either  been  imposed 
on,  or  for  some  unknown  object  of  fraud  the 
statement  has  been  given.  Peter  of  Bloisf  has 
been  mentioned  as  one  of  the  earliest  to  repeat 
the  relation  ;  and  it  is  vcy  easy  to  conceive  how 
readily  it  would  be  credited,  and  how  eagerly 
it  would  be  transmitted  after  an  authority  so  de- 
servedly great  had  placed  faith  in  the  cir- 
cumstance. He  was  archdeacon  of  Bath  and 
chaplain  to  Henry  H. 

There  are  no  particulars  given  beyond  those 
I  have  already  mentioned,  as  to  the  means  em- 
ployed by  Edward  the  Confessor,  nor  is  there 
any  reference  made  to  any  piece  of  money  be- 
stowed at  the  time.  But  in  the  Computus  Hos- 
pitii  of  Edward  I,  preserved  among  the  records 
in  the  tower,  a  small  sum  of  money,  (gold  medal,) 
as  given  by  the  king  to  the  applicants,  is  there 
frequently  mentioned.  Dr.  Plot,  in  his  '  Natu- 
ral History  of  Oxfordshire,"  (tab.  xvi.,  fig.  5,) 
figures  a  piece  of  gold  found  in  St.  Giles's  Fields, 
in  the  suburbs  of  Oxford,  havinpr  the  initial 
E.  C,  and  furnished  with  two  holes,  supposed 
to  be  for  the  purpose  of  affixing  a  riband ;  and 
he  has  presumed  this  to  be  a  touch ing-  piece  of 
the  Confessor.  The  piece  of  gold  alluded  to 
was  impressed  only  on   one  side,  and  was  most 

*  Vita  Sancti  Edwardi  Recris  et  Confessoris  in  Historiae 
Anglicanae  Scriptores  X,  a  Twysden.  Lond.  1652,  2  vols, 
folio.  De  Glandibus  et  Vermibus  regio  tactu  a  quadam 
foemina  expulsis.  p.  390. 

t  Epist.  CL.  ad  Clericos  Aulae  Regiae,  p.  335,  n.  6. 


OF    HEALING.  163 

probably  an  amulet.  The  initials  cannot  have 
been  those  of  Edward,  as  in  his  lifetime  he  did 
not  enjoy  the  title  of  confessor  —  that  was  a  dis- 
tinction given  to  him  after  his  decease.* 

Prior  to  Charles  II,  no  particular  coin  appears 
to  have  been  executed  to  be  oriven  at  the  time  of 
healing'.  His  touching  pieces  are  not  uncommon  ; 
and  specimens  of  his  reign  and  of  that  of  James 

II  and  of  Anne  are  to  be  found  in  the  British 
Museum.  Pinkertonf  classes  the  English  touch- 

*  No  regular  gold  coinage  deserving  the  name  of  currency 
in  England  issued  forth  before  the  age  of  Edward  III,  There 
is,  however,  extant  one  gold  piece  of  Edward  the  Confessor 
which  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  false,  and  which  is  said  to 
have  been  found  in  a  church  :  it  may  have  been  a  piece  for 
an  offering  or  present,  as  one  only  is  known.  It  is  supposed 
not  to  have  been  a  coin,  although  struck  from  the  same  die  as 
the  silver  pennies  ;  it  is  a  gold  penny,  never  apparently  in- 
tended for  general  circulation.     Three  gold  pennies  of  Henry 

III  are  known,  and  these  have  also  been  conjectured  to  be 
pieces  for  presents,  not  coins  in  circulation.  M.  Adrien  de 
Longperier  lately  communicated  to  the  Numismatic  Society 
an  account  of  a  very  remarkable  gold  coin  of  Offa.  This 
coin  bears  on  one  side,  in  Arabic,  "  In  the  name  of  God  was 
coined  this  Dinar,  in  the  year  157."  In  the  centre,  "Ma- 
homed is  the  Apostle  of  God,"  in  three  lines,  between  which 
are  the  words  offa  rex.  The  reverse  is  inscribed  "  Ma- 
homet is  the  Apostle  of  God,  who  sent  him  with  the  doctrine 
and  true  faith,  to  prevail  over  every  religion."  In  the  centre, 
"  There  is  no  other  God  but  the  one  God  ;  he  has  no  equal." 
There  are  faults  in  the  orthography  of  the  inscription,  which 
the  writer  ascribes  to  the  ignorance  of  the  artist,  who  proba- 
bly copied  it  from  a  Mussulman  Dinar,  being  unacquainted 
with  the  Arabic  language.  The  writer  is  of  opinion  that  this 
dinar  may  have  been  brought  into  Europe  by  trade,  or  by  the 
Arabs  who  fled  in  169  (a.d.  785)  from  the  religious  persecu- 
tions of  the  Khahlif  Hadi. 

t  Essay  on  Medals.     Lend.  1808,  8vo.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  71. 


164  ROYAL    GIFT 

pieces  with  silver  counters ;  they  commonly 
bear  St.  Michael  and  the  Dragon  on  one  side, 
and  a  ship  on  the  other,  as  in  the  accompanying 
plate,*  engraved  from  gold  specimens  in  the 
British  Museum.  Figures  1  and  2  represent  a 
piece  of  the  time  of  Charles  II;  figures  3  and  4 
a  similar  one  of  James  II ;  and  figures  5  and  6 
another  of  Queen  Anne.  Pinkerton  also  says 
there  were  touch-pieces  of  the  Pretenders.  Pro- 
bably that  represented  in  figures  7  and  8,  from 
a  specimen  in  the  British  Museum,  is  of  this 
description. 

Henry  II.  From  the  time  of  Edward  the 
Confessor  to  that  of  Henry  II,  I  can  find  no 
authority  for  this  practice  by  the  sovereigns  of 
England.  This  monarch  is,  however,  alluded 
to  by  Peter  of  Blois,  his  majesty's  chaplain,  who 
attests  both  the  touching  and  the  cure. 

John,  Edward  I.  Gilbertus  Anglicus,  the 
author  of  a  'Compendium  Medicinse,'  the  first 
practical  writer  on  medicine  in  Britain,  and  the 
first  English  physician  who  had  the  hardihood 
to  expose  the  ignorance  and  absurdities  of  the' 
monks,  who  then  chiefly  engrossed  the  practice 
of  medicine,  is  stated,  upon  the  authority  of 
Bale,  to  have  lived  in  the  reign  of  King  John, 
and  is  placed  by  him  in  the  year  1210.  His 
work,  however,  contains  references  to  the  wri- 
tings of  Averhoes,  the  Arabian  physician,  which 
were  not  translated  before  the  middle  of  the  thir- 
teenth century ;  and  it  is  probable,  therefore, 
that  he  lived  in  the  time  of  Edward  I,  for  whose 

*  See  Frontispiece. 


OF    HEALING.  165 

practice  in  the  touching  for  the  evil  he  becomes 
the  authority.  He  asserts  tlie  practice  to  be  an 
ancient  one,  and  tells  us  that  the  disease  is  called 
the  king's  evil,  because  kings  cure  it. 

Edward  II.  John  of  Gaddesden,  a  writer  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  who  flourished  in  1320, 
and  was  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  the  first 
English  physician  employed  at  court,  and  ex- 
tolled by  Chaucer  as  the  most  illustrious  among 
writers  on  medicine,  treats  of  scrofula  ;*^  and 
after  enumerating  various  methods  of  treatment, 
recommends  that  in  the  event  of  their  failure  to 
cure  the  disease,  the  patient  should  repair  to  the 
king,  to  be  touched :  "  Si  hsec  non  sufficiant, 
vadat  ad  Regemuteum  tangatatque  benedicat ; 
quia  iste  morbus  vocatur  regius  ;  et  ad  hunc 
valet  contactus  serenissimi  regis  Anglorum." 

Edward    III,  Richard    II.      Bradwardine, 

*  Praxis  Medica,  Rosa  Anglica  dicta,  torn,  ii.,  p.  981. 
Edit.  Augustae  Vindelicorum,  159.5,  4to.  This  work  is  chiefly- 
collected  from  the  Arabian  writers,  yet  the  author  has  been 
highly  praised  by  Conringius  and  Leland,  the  latter  especially 
lauding  his  erudition  and  pronouncing  him  to  be  the  most  in- 
genious man  of  his  age.  Such,  however,  was  not  the  opinion 
of  Guido  de  Cauliaco,  who,  in  allusion,  to  this  work,  pointedly 
says,  "  Last  of  all  arose  the  Scentless  Rose  of  England,  in 
which,  on  its  being  sent  to  me,  I  hoped  to  find  the  odour  of 
sweetness  ;  but,  instead  of  that,  I  only  encountered  the  fictions 
of  Hispanus,  of  Gilbert,  and  of  Theodoric."  "  UUimo  insur- 
rexit  una  Fatua  Rosa  Anglicana,  quae  mihi  missa  fuit,  et  visa 
credidi  in  ea  invenire  odorem  suavitatis,  sed  inveni  fabulas 
Hispani,  Gilberli,  et  Thcodorici."  The  severity  of  this  judg- 
ment is  irreconcileable  with  justice.  The  book  is,  however, 
a  very  singular  compound  of  the  dissimilar  subjects  of 
poetry,  philology,  physic,  surgery,  physiognomy,  cosmetics, 
and  cookery. 


166  ROYAL    GIFT 

archbishop  of  Canterbury,  lived  in  the  reigns  of 
Edward  III  and  Richard  11,  dying  in  1348. 
He  gives  testimony  to  the  antiquity  of  the  prac- 
tice, and  appeahng  to  its  truth,  says,  "  Qui- 
cunque  negas  miracula  Christiane,  veni  et  vide 
ad  oculum,  adhus  istis  temporibus  in  locis  sanc- 
torum per  vices  miracula  gloriosa."*^  f 

Henry  IV,  V,  VI.  Sir  John  Fortescue, 
Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench  in  the 
time  of  Henry  IV,  and  afterwards  Chancellor  to 
Henry  VI,  in  his  '  Defence  of  the  Title  of  the 
House  of  Lancaster,'  now  in  the  Cotton  Library, 
and  written  just  after  Henry  the  Fourth's  acces- 
sion to  the  crown,  represents  the  privilege  of 
touching  for  the  evil  as  a  practice  from  time  im- 
memorial belonfrins:  to  the  kinjrs  of  Enoland; 
and  he  attributes  the  derivation  of  the  power  to 
the  unction  of  their  hands  employed  at  their 
ceremonial  of  coronation.  "  Reo^es  Anorlire  in 
ipsa  unctione  suatalem  coelitus  gratiam  infusam 
recipiunt,  quod  per  tactum  manuum  suaruni 
unctarum  infectos  morbo  quodam,  qui  vulgo 
regius  morhus  appellatur,  mundant  et  curant, 
qui  alias  dicuntur  incurabiles."J 

Henry  VII.  This  monarch  was  a  great  ob- 
server of  religious  forms,  and  was  the  first  sove- 

* 

*  In  Libro  de  Causa  Dei,  lib.  i.,  cap.  1,  corol.  pars.  32, 
p.  39. 

t  [Whoever  thou  art,  O  Christian,  who  denyest  these  mi- 
racles,  come  and  be  an  eyewitness  of  their  truth,  &c.] 

X  [The  kings  of  Encjland  at  the  time  of  unction  receive  such 
a  divine  power,  that,  by  the  touch  of  their  hands,  they  can 
cleanse  and  cure  those  who  are  otherwise  considered  incura- 
ble of  a  certain  disease,  commonly  called  the  king's  evil.] 


OF    HEALING.  167 

reign  \vho  established  a  particular  service  of 
ceremony  to  be  employed  at  the  healings.  Mr. 
Beckett*  thinks  he  can  trace  the  ceremony  esta- 
blished  by  Henry  VII,  to  have  been  derived 
from  a  very  old  ]MS.  exorcism,  used  for  the  dis- 
possessing of  evil  spirits.  The  service  has  been 
altered  at  different  times,  though  the  variations 
are  not  great.  The  variations  are  to  be  found 
in  the  reigns  of  Charles  II  and  of  Queen  Anne. 
In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  of  the  latter 
reign,  the  service  is  printed.  The  form  of 
prayer  used  at  the  healing  was  separately  printed 
originally,  and  it  was  reprinted  among  the  addi- 
tions to  L'Estrange's  'Alliance  of  Divine  Offices.' 
Bishop  Kennett  also  preserved  it  in  his  register, 
p.  731,  with  this  remark,  that  "he  thinks  this 
was  the  only  office  changed  by  King  James  II, 
and  performed  by  his  own  priests,"  and  *'  that 
it  was  restored  by  Queen  Anne  with  very  little 
correction." 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  VII,  the  presentation 
of  a  piece  of  gold  was  first  generally  introduced. 
It  probably  descended  from  a  practice  common 
in  the  time  of  Edward  III,  whose  rose-noble  had, 
on  one  side  the  king's  image  in  a  ship,  and  on 
the  reverse  a  religious  inscription,  "  Jesus  autem 
transiens  per  medium  eorum  ibat;"' and  these 
coins  are  said  to  have  been  worn  as  amulets  to 
preserve  from  danger  in  battle.  Many  coins  of 
this  description  are  to  be  found  in  the  collection 

*  A  Free  and  Impartial  Enquiry  into  the  Antiquity  and 
Efficacy  of  Touciiinff  for  the  Cure  of  the  King's  Evil;  by 
William  Beckett.  Lond.  1772,  8vo.,  p.  52,  and  Appendix, 
No.  VI.,  p.  14. 


168  ROYAL    GIFT 

of  the  British  Museum  and  in  other  cabinets, 
having  sentences  from  scripture  of  a  holy  cha- 
racter, which  doubtless  were  employed  with  the 
same  intent.  The  angel-nohle  of  Henry  VII* 
appears  to  have  been  the  coin  given,  as  it  was 
of  the  purest  gold  ;  it  was  the  coin  of  the  time, 
and  not  made  especially  for  this  purpose.  It 
bore  the  inscription,  "  Per  Cruce  tua  salva  nos 
xjje  rede  f  but  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth  this  was 
altered  to  ^^  A  Domino  factum  est  istud  et  est 
mirahile  in  ocnlis  nostris."  After  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  it  was  found  necessary  to  reduce  the 
size  of  the  coin,  so  great  were  the  numbers  that 
applied  to  be  touched,  and  the  inscription  was 
therefore  reduced  to  that  of  Soli  Deo  gloria, 
which  continued  to  be  the  case  to  the  time  of 
Queen  Anne. 

Henry  VIIL  Polydore  Virgil,  who  lived  in 
the  reigns  of  Henry  VII  and  VIII,  describes  the 
disease  and  attests  the  practice  in  his  day. 
"  Solebat  rex  Edovardus  divinitus  solo  tactu 
sanare  strumosos,  hoc  est,  strumam  patientes : 
est  enim  struma  morbus,  quem  Itali  scrophulam 
vulgo  vocant,  a  scrophis,  quas  ea  mala  scabie 
afflictantur,  id  est  humor,  in  quo  subtus  con- 
cretEe  qua3dam  ex  pure  et  sanguine,  quasi  glan- 
dulce  oriuntur,  ac  plurimum  per  pectus,  etguttur 
serpit.     Quod  quidern  immortale   munus,  jure 

*  The  angel  is  represented  standing  with  both  feet  on  the 
dragon.  (See  Ruding's  Annals  of  the  Coinage  of  Britain, 
&c.,  vol.  v.,  p.  223,  PI.  IV.,  No.  7.)  Fabian  Phillips  (on 
Purveyance,  p.  257)  says  that  the  angels  issued  by  the  kings 
of  England  on  occasion  of  the  touchings  amounted  to  a  charge 
of  3000/.  per  annum. 


OF   HEALING;  169 

quasi  hgereditario,  ad  posteriores  reges  manavit : 
nam  reges  Anglise  etiam  nunc  tactu,  ac  quibus- 
dam  hymnis  non  sine  cserimoniisprius  recitatiSj 
strumosos  sanant."*  f 

Elizabeth.  I  have  already  alluded  to  a  case 
of  evil,:]:  touched  by  the  Queen  Elizabeth;  but 
the  chief  evidence  of  Her  Majesty's  exercise  of 
this  privilege  is  afforded  by  a  publication  from 
which  Carte  and  Collier  had  extracted  the  case 
before  mentioned,  a  work  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Tooker,  chaplain  to  the  queen  and  canon 
of  Exeter,  (where  he  was  born,)  and  afterwards 
dean  of  Lichfield.  He  died  in  16-20,  having 
published  his  work  whilst  queen's  chaplain,  and 
it  is  entitled,  "  Explicatio  totius  Qsestionis  de 
mirabilium  sanitatum  gratia,  in  qua  prsecipue 
aoitur  de  Solemn!  et  sacra  curatione  strumee, 
cui  Reges  Anglia3,  rite  maugurati,  divinitus 
medicati  sunt,"  Lond.  1597,  4to.  This  is  an 
historical  defence  of  the  power  of  our  kings  in 
curing  what  is  commonly  called  the  king's  evil. 
He  flatters  her  majesty  upon  her  extraordinary 
abilities  in  touching  or  healing,  for  these  words 
were  synonymous.  He  attributes  the  power  to 
all  Christian  kings,  and  is  displeased  with  those 
who  are  content  to  derive  it  from  an  authority 


*  Historice  Anglicte,  lib.  xxvi.,  p.  187.  Lugd.  Batav. 
1649,  8vo. 

t  [King  Edward  used  to  cure  the  evil  merely  by  the  touch. 
The  evil  is  a  disease  which  the  Italians  call  scrofula,  from 
scrofa,  a  sow,  which  animal  is  afflicted  with  a  complaint,  that 
engenders  kernels  filled  with  matter  and  blood,  which  spread 
over  the  breast  and  throat.] 

\  See  page  159. 
15 


170  ROYAL    GIFT 

SO  recent  as  Edward  the  Confessor.  In  this 
work,  which  is  now  of  great  rarity,  the  reverend 
doctor  declares  that  "  the  queen  never  refused 
touching  an}^  body  that  applied  to  her  for  relief, 
after  it  had  appeared,  upon  a  strict  inquiry  and 
examination  made  by  her  physicians  and  sur- 
geons, and  by  a  certificate  under  their  hands, 
that  the  complaint  of  the  diseased  was  really  the 
king's  evil^  and  was  of  so  virulent  a  nature  that 
there  were  no  hopes  of  its  being  cured  by  phy- 
sicians, or  else  the  sick  persons  so  very  indigent, 
that,  not  being  able  to  apply  to  physicians  for 
remedies,  they  had  no  resource  left  but  in  her 
royal  goodness.  This  was  done  to  prevent  any 
impositions  being  made  on  her  sacred  touch  by 
any  other  foul  disease ;  every  person  admitted 
to  be  touched  being  obliged  to  pass  such  exami- 
nation, and  to  take  with  them  a  ticket  from  the 
physician  and  surgeon  by  whom  they  were  ex- 
amined." 

Laurentius,  as  already  mentioned,  denies  to 
the  kings  of  England  the  power  of  healing  the 
evil  by  the  touch,  and  ascribes  it  only  to  those 
of  France.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Tooker  gives  it  to 
the  kings  and  queens  of  England  and  denies  it 
to  those  of  France.  Laurentius  was  first  phy- 
sician in  ordinary  to  Henry  IV  of  France,  and 
Tooker  was  chaplain  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  Ful- 
ler (Church  History,  p.  147),  quaintly,  and  in 
his  usual  dry  style,  observes,  in  allusion  to  the 
appointment  of  Laurentius,  that  he  "  had  his 
judgment  herein  bowed  awry  with  so  weighty  a 
relation  ;  flattery  being  so  catching  a  disease, 
wherewith  the  best  doctors  of  physick  may 
sometimes  be  infected."     Tooker  he  describes 


OF   HEALING.  171 

as  crying  quits  with  him,  and  admitting   the 
kings  of  France  only  to  have  enjoyed  the  power 
pel'  aliquam  Prcpaginem,  by  sprig  of  right,  de- 
rived from  the  primitive  power  of  our  Enghsh 
kings,  under  whose  jurisdiction  most    of    the 
French  provinces  were  once  subjected.     Fear- 
ful of  enlaroingr  to  too  crreat  an  extent  on  this 
subject,   Fuller    stops   short   in   his   discourse, 
which  he  says,  "  begins  to  bunch  and  swell  out, 
and  some,"  he  adds,  "  will  censure  this  digres- 
sion for  a  struma,  or  tedious  exuberance,  beyond 
the  just  proportion  of  our  history  ;  wherefore,  no 
more  hereof:    onely  I  will  conclude  with  two 
prayers  ;  extending  the  first  to  all  good  people, 
that  Divine  Providence  would  be  pleased  to  pre- 
serve them  from  this  painful  and  loathsome  dis- 
ease.    The  second  I  shall   confine   to    myself 
alone  (not  knowing  how  it  will  suit  with  the 
consciences  and  judgments  of  others),  yet  so  as 
not  excluding  any  who  are  disposed  to  join  with 
me  in  my  petition  ;  namely,  that  if  it  be  the  will 
of  God  to  visit  me  (whose   body  hath  the  seeds 
of  all  sicknesse  and  soul  of  all  sins),  with  afore- 
said malady,  I  may  have  the  favour  to  be  touched 
of  his  majestv,  the  happiness  to  be  healed  by 
him,  and  the  thankfulness  to  be  gratefull  to  God 
the  author,  and  God's  image,  the  instrument  of 
my  recovery." 

William  Clowes,  surgeon  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 
denominates  scrofida  "- the  King' s  ox  \\\Q  Queen's 
Evil:  a  disease  repugnant  to  nature:  which 
grievous  malady  is  known  to  be  miraculously 
cured  and  healed  hy  the  sacred  hands  of  the 
queen's  most  royall  majesty,  even  by  divine  iii' 


172  ROYAL    GIFT 

spiration  and  wonderful!  worke  and  power  of 
God,  above  man's  skill,  arte,  and  expectation. 
Through  whose  princely  clemency,  a  mighty 
number  of  her  majesty es  most  royal  subjects, 
and  also  many  strangers  borne,  are  dayly  cured 
and  healed,  which  otherwise  would  most  miser- 
ably have  perished."* 

Although  a  firm  believer  in  the  power  of  the 
queen  over  this  disease,  he  yet  scouts  those  who 
"  seriously  follow  exorcisraes  and  the  illusions 
of  certaine  charmes  of  clowtes  and  rags,  which 
is  very  inhumane  and  barbarous :  never  prac- 
tised, neither  written  of,  nor  allowed  by  any 
learned  phisition  or  chirurgeon  that  ever  I  yet 
heard  or  read  off  From  this  author's  account, 
it  is  evident  that  the  queen  touched  an  immense 
number  of  persons,  though  she  is  reported  to 
have  been  averse  to  the  practice,  and  for  some 
time  to  have  even  discontinued  it.  In  one  of 
her  majesty's  progresses  in  Gloucestershire,  she 
was  so  tired  by  the  importunity  of  persons  to  be 
touched  that  she  told  the  people  "  God  only 
could  relieve  them  from  their  complaints." 

Richard  Smith,  the  titular  bishop  of  Calcedon, 
says  that  Elizabeth's  cases  were  cured  by  giving 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  that  from  her  time  to 
that  of  James  II,  this  practice  was  discontinued, 
but  there  is  no  foundation  whatever  for  the  opi- 
nion expressed  by  the  bishop. 

*  A  Right  Frutefull  and  approoved  Treatise,  for  the  Artificial! 
Cure  of  that  Malady  called  in  Latin,  Struma,  and  in  English, 
the  Evill,  cured  by  Kinges  and  Queenes  of  England.  Lond. 
1602,  4to.,  Pref.  Epist. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  19. 


OF    HEALING.  173 

James  I.  This  sovereign  must  also  have  ex- 
ercised tlie  touch,  as  a  proclamation,  bearing 
date  March  25th,  1616,  is  extant,  forbidding  pa- 
tients to  approach  the  royal  person  during  the 
summer. 

In  Nichols's  'Progresses,'*  we  read  that  "  on 
the  3d  Nov.,  the  king  knighted,  at  Whitehall, 
Sir  Edward  Stafford ;'  and  the  Turkish  ambas- 
sador had  his  publique  audience  of  his  majesty 
in  the  banquetting  house,  purposely  hung  for 
him  with  rich  hangings,  when  his  majesty 
touched  one  of  his  followers,  said  to  be  his  son, 
for  the  cure  of  the  king's  evil,  using  at  it  the 
accustomed  ceremony  of  signing  the  place  in- 
fected with  the  crosse,  but  no  prayers  before  or 
after."t  And  in  the  collection  at  the  State 
Paper  Office  I  have  found  three  letters  bearing 
upon  this  subject,  from  which  I  have  made  the 
following  extracts : 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  John  Chamberlain  to 
Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  ambassador  at  the  Hague. 
Dated,  7th  Nov.,  1618: 

"  On  Tuesday  the  Turkish  Chiaus  went  to 
the  court,  but  how  he  carried  himself,  or  what 
his  errand  is,  I  know^  not :  but  we  say  you  are 
likely  to  have  him  in  Holland." 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pory  to  the  same. 
Dated  London,  7th  Nov.,  1618  : 

"  On  Sunday,  the  new  Venetian  ambassador, 
Signer  Donati,  had  his  first  audience,  and  on 
Tuesday  the  Turkish  Chiaus,  who  means  to 

*  Vol.  iii.,  p.  494,  Reign  of  James  I. 

t  Finetti  Ptiiloxenis,  p.  58. 

15* 


174  ROYAL-  GIFT 

have  a  bout  also  with  Holland.  His  speech  to 
the  king  (as  my  Lord  Chancellor  told  me),  was  : 
—  Sultan  Osman,  my  great  master  hatli  sent 
your  majesty  a  thousand  commendations  and  a 
thousand  good  wishes,  both  to  your  majesty  and 
to  the  prince  your  sonne,  and  hath  commanded 
me  to  present  unto  you  these  his  Imperial  let- 
ters. In  fine,  after  his  majesty  had  asked  him 
many  questions,  the  Turke  said  his  sonne  was 
troubled  with  a  disease  in  his  throat,  whereof  he 
understood  his  majesty  had  the  guifte  of  heal- 
ing ;  wherat  his  majesty  laughed  heartily,  and 
as  the  young  fellowe  came  neare  him  he  stroked 
him,  with  his  hande,  first  on  the  one  side  and 
then  on  the  other  :  marry  without  Pistle  or 
Gospell." 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  the  same  to  the  same. 
Dated  London,  14th  Nov.,  1618. 

"  The  Turkish  Chiaus  is  shortly  coming  for 
the  Hagh.  On  Tuesday  last  he  took  leave  of 
the  king,  and  thanked  his  majesty  for  healing 
his  sonne  of  the  kinges  evill ;  which  his  majesty 
performed  with  all  solemnity  at  Whitehall  on 
Thursday  was  sevenio-ht." 

Charles  I.  This  sovereiffn  touched  for  the 
evil,  and  substituted  in  some  cases  the  o^ivingr  a 
piece  of  silver  instead  of  gold.  In  Aubrey's 
'  Collection  of  Letters'  there  is  one  from  Dr. 
Hickes  to  Dr.  Hearne,  in  which  reference  is 
made  to  a  case  successfully  touched  by  Charles  I, 
when  he  was  a  prisoner  in  Holmby  House.  In 
Whitelock's  'Memorials  of  English  Affairs,' 
(p.  244,  ed.  1732,)  under  dateof  April  22,  1647, 
it  is  recorded  that  "  Letters  informed  the  great 


OF    HEALING.  175 

resort  of  people  to  the  king  to  be  cured  of  the 
king's  evil,  whereupon  the  House  ordered  a  de- 
claration to  be  drawn  to  inform  the  people  of  the 
superstition  of  being  touched  hij  the  ling  for  the 
evil.  And  a  letter  of  thanks  ordered  to  the  com- 
missioners at  Holmby." 

Badger  says*  that  this  king  '*  excelled  all  his 
predecessors  in  the  divine  gift ;  for  it  is  manifest 
beyond  all  contradiction,  that  he  not  only  cured 
by  his  sacred  touch,  both  with  and  without  gold, 
but  likewise  perfectly  effected  the  same  cure  by 
his  prayer  and  benediction  only." 

In  the  State  Paper  Ofiice  there  are  preserved 
no  less  than  eleven  proclamations  issued  in  the 
reiofn  of  Charles  I,  relating-  to  the  cure  of  the 
king's  evil.  The  first  bears  the  date  of  June 
18,  1626,  and  is  entitled  '  A  Proclamation  for 
the  better  ordering  of  those  who  repay  re  to  the 
Court  for  their  Cure  of  the  Disease  called  the 
King's  Evill.'  It  ordains  that  in  future  the 
seasons  for  such  purpose  should  be  at  Easter 
and  jMichaelmas;  the  latter  being  substituted 
for  Whitsuntide,  as  formerly  practised,  and  this 
"as  times  more  convenient,  both  for  the  tempe- 
rature of  the  season  and  in  respect  of  any  con- 
tagions which  may  happen  in  this  neere  accesse 
to  his  majesties  person."  It  also  orders  that 
those  w^ho  repair  to  the  court  should  bring  with 
them  certificates  under  the  hands  of  the  parson, 
vicar,  or  minister  and  churchwardens  of  those 
parishes  where  they  dwell,  as  to  not  having  be- 

*  Cases  of  Cures  of  the  King's  Evil,  perfected  by  the  Royal 
Touch.     Lond.  1748,  8vo.,  p.  27. 


176  ROYAL    GIFT 

fore  been  touched  for  the  disease.     And  the  pro- 
clamation  is   directed   to  be   affixed   in  every 
market  town.     No.  2,  June   17,  1628,  is  to  the 
same  effect,  and  forbidding  anj  to  repair  to  the 
court  before  Michaelmas.     No.  3,  April  6,  1630, 
is  of  the  same  purpose.     No  4,  March  25, 1631, 
is  to  the  same  intent,  adding  that  "  the  dangler 
bein^  now  visible    to  have  any  concourse  of 
people  in  this  spring  or  summer   time  to  have 
resort  to  this  citie  of  London,  the  place  of  his 
usual  accesse,  or  to  his  court  or  royal  person." 
No  5,  October  13,  1631,  states  that  "His  most 
excellent  majestic    (now   considering   that   the 
danger  of  the  infection  of  the  plague  is  very 
much  dispersed  in  divers  counties  of  this  king- 
dome),  commands  that  none  presume  to  repair 
to  the  court  to  be  healed  before  the  15th  of  De- 
cember next  ensuing;  and  in  case  the  infection 
should  continue  or  increase  —  which  God  of  his 
mercie  divert  —  his  majesty  will  in  the  mean- 
time signify  and  declare  his  royal  will  and  plea- 
sure by  proclamation,"  &c.     No.  6,  November, 
8,  1631,  is  entitled  'A  Proclamation  inhibiting 
the  resort  of  his  majesties  people  to  the  court 
for  cure  of  the  king's  evill  until  the  middle  of 
Lent,  and  to  restraine  the  accesse  of  others  from 
infected  places."     It  alludes  to  the  former  pro- 
clamation, and  adds  that,  "  As  it  hath  not  yet 
pleased  Almighty  God  to  withdraw  his  hand, 
but  that  the  infection  is  still  much  dispersed, 
they  are  forbidden  to  resort  to  the  court  until 
the  middle  of  Lent  next;  at  which  time  he  pur- 
poseth  (if  God   shall  be  so  pleased),  to  admit 
them  to  his  presence,  and  for  them  to  doe  as 


OF    HEALING.  177 

hath  been  used,  strictly  charging  all  his  officers 
and  ministers  whom  it  shall  concerne,  that  they 
make  stay  of  as  many  as  they  shall  find  a  tra- 
vailing, or  preparing  themselves  to  his  majestie 
for  cure  of  that  infirmitie.  and  to  turn  them  and 
others  whom  thev  shall  find  to  come  from  places 
infected  to  the  places  of  their  residence,  not  suf- 
fering them  to  approach  to  his  majesties  pre- 
sence or  his  court,  or  the  court  or  household  of 
his  dearest  consort  the  Queene,  as  they  will 
avoid  his  majesties  displeasure  and  the  paines 
by  hislawes  ordained  against  contemners  of  his 
command."  No.  7,  June  20,  1632  :  the  infec- 
tion still  prevailing,  persons  were  forbidden  to 
apply  until  Christmas   next.     No.  8,  April  20, 

1634,  directed  that  none  should  "  repayre  to  the 
court  untill  the  Feast  of  All  Saints  next  com- 
ming."  No.  9,  December  14,  1634,  is  a  pro- 
clamation putting  off  the  time  announced,  in 
the  followino:  words :  **  Yet  now,  havinof  taken 
into  his  royal  consideration  the  present  general 
dispersion  and  overspreading  of  the  small-pox 
throughout  all  parts  of  this  kingdom,  and  the 
dandier  that  may  ensue  to  his  majesties  person 
and  household  bv  the  accesse  and  confluence  of 
those  people  to  his  court  for  cure ;"  it  forbids  any 
to  appear  before  Easter  next.     No  10,  July  28, 

1635,  is  a  proclamation  announeinor  the  times 
to  be  as  heretofore  —  Easter  and  Michaelmas; 
and  directs  it  to  be  read  twice  a  year  —  at 
Shrovetide  and  Bartholomewtide,  as  well  as 
being  affixed  in  every  market  town.  No.  11, 
September  3,  1637,  puts  off  the  healing  at  Mi- 
chaelmas next,   "  the  infection  still  prevailing, 


178  ROYAL    GIFT 

upon  pain  of  his  majesties  high  indignation,  and 
such  further  punishments  as  shall  be  meet  to  be 
inflicted  for  the  neglect  and  contempt  of  his  ma- 
jesties royal  commands  herein." 

In  the  *  Mercurius  Aulicus'  for  Sunday, 
March  26,  1643,  we  read  :  "  His  majesty  caused 
an  order  (which  had  been  signed  and  printed 
the  day  before)  to  be  posted  on  the  court  gates 
and  all  the  posts  and  passages  into  the  citie  of 
Oxford,  proliibiting  all  such  as  were  troubled 
with  the  disease  called  the  king's  evil  to  repair 
into  the  court  for  the  cure  thereof,  at  the  feast 
of  Easter,  now  approaching,  or  at  any  other 
time  hereafter,  till  the  Michaelmas  next." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Peck*  relates  a  case  of  cure 
effected  by  the  king,  which  he  found  in  Oudart's 
MS.  Diary  of  the  Treaty  of  Newport,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles. 

Charles  II.  In  no  reign  did  the  practice 
prevail  to  such  an  extent  as  in  that  of  this  sove- 
reign, and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  more 
people  died  of  scrofula,  according  to  the  Bills  of 
Mortality,  during  this  period  than  any  other. 
This  may  probably  have  arisen  from  a  reliance 
placed  on  the  royal  power,  by  which  other  more 
natural  aid  was  neglected  to  be  soug-ht  after. 

Parish  registers  were  kept,  during  this  period, 
of  such  cases -as  had  received  certificates  and 
were  touched  for  the  king's  evil.  Lysons  refers 
to  one  of  these  at  Camberwelhf  and  gives  ex- 
tracts from  it.     He  only  knew  of  this  one,  but 

*  Desiderata  Curiosa,  vol.  ii.,  lib.  x.,  p.  7. 
t  Environs  of  London,  vol.  i.,  p.  61. 


OF    HEALING.  179 

there  was  another  in  the  parish  of  Stanton,  St. 
John,  near  Oxford,  anotlier  in  the  parish  of 
Wadhurst,  in  Sussex,  (1684,)  and  probably 
many  others  yet  unnoticed.  In  the  ordinances 
made  by  King  Charles  II  for  the  government 
of  his  household,  published  from  the  MS.,  under 
the  royal  sign  manual,  in  the  library  of  Thomas 
Astle,  Esq.,  p.  352,  we  read  :  "  And  whereas 
many  infirme  people  resort  for  healing  to  our 
court,  and  first  for  their  probation  use  to  flock 
to  the  lodginCTs  of  our  chirurgions  within  our 
house,  (which  is  not  only  noysome,  but  may  be 
very  dangerous  in  time  of  infection) ;  we  com- 
mand that  henceforth  no  such  resort  be  permit- 
ted within  our  house,  but  that  probation  of  such 
persons  as  are  to  be  brought  to  our  presence  be 
made  in  other  places,  without  admitting  any 
into  the  house  till  the  day  for  healing  be  ap- 
pointed by  us,  and  order  given  for  the  same  by 
our  lord  chamberlaine  or  vice  chamberlaine,  who 
only  are  to  move  us  therein." 

Pepys  has  two  notices  in  relation  to  the  touch- 
ing during  this  reign.  "June  23,  1660:  To 
my  lord's  lodgings  when  Tom  Grey  come  to  me, 
and  there  staid  to  see  the  king  touch  people  for 
the  king's  evil.  But  he  did  not  come  at  all,  it 
rayned  so ;  and  the  poor  people  were  forced  to 
stand  all  the  morning  in  the  rain  in  the  garden. 
Afterward  he  touched  them  in  the  banquetting- 
house."* 

"  April  13, 1661  :  I  went  to  the  banquet-house, 
and  there  saw  the  king  heale,  the  first  time  that 

*  Diary,  vol.  i.,  p.  59. 


180  ROYAL    GIFT 

ever  I  saw  him  do  it;  which  he  did  with  great 
gravity,  and  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  an  ugly 
office  and  a  simple  one."*  There  is  also  a  Pro- 
clamation preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Office, 
of  the  date  of  July  4,  1662,  ordering  that  from 
henceforth  the  times  for  healinsr  should  be 
"  from  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  commonly  called 
Alhallontide,  to  a  week  before  Christmas,  and 
in  the  moneth  before  Easter." 

John  Browne,  one  of  the  surgeons  in  ordinary 
to  Charles  II,  and  surgeon  to  his  majesty's  hos- 
pital, publislied,  in  1684,  a  curious  work,  en- 
titled "  Adenochoiradelo^ia  :  or  an  Anatomick- 
Chirurgical  Treatise  of  Glandules  and  Strumaes, 
or  King's  Evil  Swellings."  He  appears  to  have 
been  the  best  fitted  advocate  for  the  royal  gift  of 
healino-  that  could  be  found,  as  he  enjoyed  full 
belief  in  the  divinity  of  kings,  and  his  excessive 
adulation  of  their  power  seems  to  have  been 
most  acceptable  to  Charles  II,  inasmuch  as  in 
the  royal  permission  prefixed  to  the  work,  the 
king  expressly  says  it  is  a  performance  "  to  our 
great  liking  and  satisfaction."  The  work  is  also 
dedicated  to  the  king,  and  the  author  lays  his 
"Anatomical  Exercitations  prostrate  at  his 
Majesty's  feet,  humbly  imploring  his  sacred 
touch.'' 

Browne's  book  is  divided  into  three  parts:  the 
first,  Adenochoiradelogia,  treats  of  the  anatomy 
and  offices  of  the  glandular  system  ;  the  second, 
ChcE?'adcIogia,  o[  ihe  nature  of  strumaes,  or  king's 
evil  swellings ;  and  the  third,  Charisma  Badli- 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  100. 


OF    HEALING*  181 

con  or  the  royal  gift  of  healing  strumaes,  or 
king's  evil  swellings,  by  contact,  or  imposition 
of  the  sacred  hands  of  our  kings  of  England  and 
of  France,  given  them  at  their  inaugurations. 
Struma,  or  scrofula,  is  alluded  to,  in  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  second  part  to  the  Earl  of  Arlington, 
the  lord  chamberlain,  as  a  disease  with  which 
"the  court  is  extremely  visited,  and  a  multitude 
of  poor  people  are  said  to  give  his  majesty 
trouble  too  oft  for  curing  their  diseases  they  will 
have  to  be  evil,  although  not  really  so,  save  only 
in  their  own  conjectures,"  a  circumstance  which 
probably  admits  of  a  ready  explanation  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  present  of  a  piece  of  gold 
to  work  the  charm  accompanied  the  imposition 
of  hands. 

Doubtless,  to  abridge  the  royal  manual  labour, 
and  diminish  also  the  expense  attendant  upon 
its  operation,  the  surgeon  in  ordinary  (who 
speaks  of  himself  as  evermore  having  been  con- 
versant in  chirurgery,  almost  from  his  cradle, 
beins:  the  sixth  o-eneration  of  his  own  relations 
all  eminent  masters  of  their  profession)  received 
<*  the  royal  command  to  attend  at  all  healings, 
(although  the  meanest,)  and  seeing  several  thou- 
sands approach  the  royal  presence  for  ease  and 
cure,  he  thought  it  his  duty,  as  w-ell  as  his  zeal, 
to  search  into  the  roads  and  circuits  of  the  evil 
which  was  seen  so  frequently  to  visit  the  court;" 
and  he  adds,  "  the  only  reason  which  invited 
me  to  this  undertaking  was  partly  intended  to 
prevent  the  tedious  journeys  of  many  poor  peo- 
ple who  unhappily  have  undertaken  the  same 
upon  the  pretence  of  their  being  troubled  with 

16 


182  ROYAL    GIFT 

this  disease,  and  partly  to  secure  his  Majesty 
from  being  cheated  of  his  gold."  The  third 
part,  treating  especially  of  the  royal  touch,  is  in- 
scribed to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham,  clerk  of 
the  closet  to  his  Majesty,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
present  the  pieces  of  gold  used  at  the  healings. 
The  author  traces  the  gitl  of  healing  from  our 
Saviour  to  the  Apostles,  and  thence  by  a  conti- 
nual line  of  Christian  kings  and  governors,  holy 
men,  commencing  wnth  Edward  the  Confessor, 
whom  he  regards  as  the  first  curer  of  struma  by 
contact  or  imposition  of  hands.  John  Browne 
is  a  great  stickler  for  the  limitation  of  the  power 
of  healing  by  the  royal  touch  to  the  kings  of 
England  ;  and  although  he  cannot  deny  to  the 
French  king  the  possession  of  this  faculty,  he 
contends  that  it  has  been  derived  from  the  En- 
glish by  "sprig  of  right."  With  regard  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  healing  was  performed,  he 
tells  us,  that  the  surgeon  having  discovered  the 
disease  by  examination,  he  grants  a  certificate  to 
that  effect;  and  tickets  being  delivered  out  to 
the  afflicted,  they  are  then  presented  to  his  ma- 
jesty on  the  surgeon's  knee,  and  he  thus  delivers 
every  sick  person  to  the  king's  sacred  hand  to 
be  touched.  The  clerk  of  his  majesty's  clo.set 
first  presents  a  bit  of  gold  to  the  kiisg,  which  he 
receives  from  the  keeper  of  the  closet,  upon  whose 
arm  the  s^old  medals  readv  strung  are  hanorino-, 
whilst  the  chaplains  read  the  ceremonies  and 
prayers  appointed  for  the  purpose,  in  all  which 
(it  is  said)  "  is  shown  the  great  charity,  piety, 
clemency,  and  humility  of  our  dread  sovereign; 
the  admirable  effects  and  wonderful  events  of 


OF    HEALING.  183 

his  royal  cure  lliroughout  all  nations,  where  not 
only  English,  Dutch,  Scotch,  and  Irish  have 
reaped  ease  and  cure,  butFrench,  Germans,  and 
all  countreyes  whatsoever,  far  and  near,  have 
abundantly  seen  and  received  the  san:ie;  and 
none  ever,  hitherto,  I  am  certain,  mist  thereof, 
unless  their  little  faith  and  incredulity  starved 
their  merits,  or  they  received  his  gracious  hand 
for  curing  another  disease,  which  was  not  really 
evermore  allowed  to  be  cured  by  him  ;  and  as 
bright  evidences  hereof,  I  have  presumed  to  offer 
that  some  have  immediately  upon  the  very  touch 
been  cured ;  others  not  so  easily  quitted  from 
their  swellings  till  the  favour  of  a  second  repe- 
tition thereof.  Some  also,  losing  their  gold, 
their  diseases  have  seized  them  afresh,  and  no 
sooner  have  these  obtained  a  second  touch,  and 
new  gold,  but  their  diseases  have  been  seen  to 
vanish,  as  being  afraid  of  his  majesties  presence  ; 
wherein  also  have  been  cured  many  without 
gold  ;  and  this  may  contradict  such  who  must 
needs  have  the  kinsf  cr'ive  them  o-old  as  well  as 
his  touch,  supposing  one  invalid  without  the 
gift  of  both.  Others  seem  also  as  ready  for  a 
second  change  of  gold  as  a  second  touch,  whereas 
their  first  being  newly  strung  upon  white  riband, 
may  work  as  well  (by  their  favour).  The  tying 
the  Almighty  to  set  times  and  particular  days  is 
also  another  great  fault  of  those  who  can  by  no 
means  be  brought  to  believe  but  at  Good  Friday 
and  the  like  particular  seasons  this  healing  fa- 
culty is  of  more  vigour  and  efficacy  than  at  any 
other  time,  although  performed  by  the  same 
hand.     As  to  the  giving  of  gold,  this  only  shows 


184  ROYAL    GIFT 

his  majesties  royal  well-wishes  towards  the  re- 
covery of  those  who  come  thus  to  be  healed. 
This  gold  being  hereat  given  as  a  token  of  his 
sacred  favour,  and  pledge  of  his  best  desires  for 
them." 

Prayers  were  read  during  the  whole  of  the 
ceremony,  and  upon  the  laying  of  the  king's 
hands  upon  them  was  recited,  "  Tiiey  shall  lay 
their  hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover." 
When  finished,  the  lord  and  the  vice-chamber- 
lain, or  other  two  nobles,  bring  to  the  king  linen 
and  a  base  and  ewer  to  wash  his  hands,  and  he 
then  takes  leave  of  the  people.  Evelyn  records 
an  account  of  one  of  these  meetings  for  healing 
which  agrees  generally  with  the  preceding  state- 
ment.    It  runs  thus  : 

^'  6  July,  16G0.  His  majestic  began  first  to 
touch  for  if  evil,  according  to  costome,  thus: 
his  ma''"  sitting  under  his  state  in  y*"  banquet- 
ting^  house,  the  chiruro^eons  cause  the  sick  to  be 
brought  or  led  up  to  the  throne.,  where  they 
kneeling;-,  y''  king  strokes  their  faces  or  cheeks 
with  both  his  hands  at  once,  at  which  instant  a 
chaplaine  in  his  formalities  says,  'He  put  his 
hands  upon  them  and  he  healed  them.'  This 
is  said  to  every  one  in  particular.  When  they 
have  ben  all  touch'd  they  come  up  againe  in 
the  same  order,  and  the  other  chaplaine  kneel- 
ing^, and  havino-  anael  o-old  strunir  on  white  rib- 
bon  on  his  arme,  delivers  them  one  by  one  to  his 
ma*''',  who  puts  them  about  the  necks  of  the 
touched  as  they  passe,  whilst  the  first  chaplaine 
repeats,  '  That  is  y^  true  light  who  came  into 
y«  world.'     Then  followes  an  epistle  (as  at  first 


OF   HEALING.  185 

a  gospell)  with  the  liturgy,  prayers  for  the  sick, 
with  some  aUeration  ;  lastly,  y"  blessing ;  and 
then  the  lo.  chamberlaine  and  comptroller  of  the 
household  bring  a  basin,  ewer  and  towel,  for  his 
ma''^  to  wash."* 

The  numhers  subjected  to  the  royal  touch  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  II  are  almost  incredible. 
From  a  register  kept  at  Whitehall  the  king  ap- 
pears to  have  had  more  patients  than  all  the  phy- 
sicians of  his  realm.  Some  were,  doubtless, 
really  diseased  ;  but  many  came  for  the  love  of 
gold,  and  others  from  curiosity.  The  gold  was 
the  powerful  incentive  with  many,  and  instances 
of  attempts  to  obtain  a  second  piece  are  narrated. 
Touching  pieces,  as  they  were  called,  were  to 
be  found  in  the  goldsmith's  shops,  and  means 
were  rendered  necessary  to  prevent  imposture. 
The  surgeons  were  required  to  give  certificates 
to  the  applicants  for  relief  According  to  the 
Parliamentary  Journal  for  July  2-9,  1660, 
"The  kingdom  having  been  for  a  long  time 
troubled  with  the  evil,  by  reason  of  his  majesty's 
absence,  great  numbers  have  lately  flocked  for 
cure.  His  sacred  majesty,  on  Monday  last, 
touched  250  in  the  banquetting  house ;  among 
whom,  when  his  majesty  was  delivering  the 
gold,  one  shuffled  himself  in,  out  of  an  hope  of 
profit,  which  had  not  been  stroked,  but  his  ma- 
jesty quickly  discovered  him,  saying,  '  This 
man  hath  not  yet  been  touched.'  His  majesty 
hath,  for  the  future,  appointed  every  Friday  for 
the  cure,  at  which  200,  and  no  more,  are  to  be 

*  Evelyn's  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  323. 
16* 


186  ROYAL    GIFT 

presented  to  him,  who  are  first  to  repair  to  Mr. 
Knisrht,  the  kino^'s  surs^eon,  beinor  at  the  Cross 
Guns  ill  Russell  Street,  Covent  Garden,  over 
against  the  Rose  Tavern,  for  their  tickets.  That 
none  mi^ht  lose  their  labour,  he  thouprht  fit  to 
make  it  known,  that  he  will  bo  at  his  home 
every  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  from  two  to 
six  o'clock,  to  attend  that  service  ;  and  if  any  per- 
sons of  quality  shall  send  to  him,  he  will  wait 
upon  them  at  their  lodgings,  upon  notice  given 
to  him." 

The  giving  of  the  gold  was  esteemed  a  token 
of  the  king's  good  will  and  a  pledge  of  his 
majesty's  best  wishes  for  the  recovery  of  such 
as  came  to  be  healed.  It  was  not  reoarded  as 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  cure,  for  silver  in 
some  few  instances  was  employed  with  appa- 
rently equal  benefit.  The  sovereign  power  of 
gold,  however,  was  distinctly  admitted,  as  the 
disease  is  reported  to  have  returned  in  some 
cases  upon  the  medal  being  lost,  and  of  being 
again  subdued  upon  the  presentation  of  a  second 
piece. 

Charles  II  had  a  respite  from  practice  for  two 
years  during  the  time  of  the  plague,  either  by 
his  removal  from  the  metropolis  or  by  fear  of 
the  epidemic.  The  register  kept  by  the  Serjeant 
and  keeper  of  his  majesty's  closet  belonging  to 
the  Chapel  Royal,  (Thomas  Haynes,  Esq.,  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Donkley,)  gives  no  enumeration  of 
cases  during  the  years  1665  and  1666,  in  which 
time  the  plague  raged  grievously.  The  register 
extends  from  May,  1662,  to  April,  1682,  and 


OF    HEALING.  187 

gives  a  number  of  persons  touched  by  the  king 
for  the  evil,  amounting  to  92,107. 

Fixed  days  appear,  by  a  proclamation  made 
by  the  king  and  council  at  the  court  of  White- 
hall, January  9,  1653,  to  have  been  then  deter- 
mined upon,  it  being  ordered  that  "the  times  of 
public  healings  sliall  from  henceforth  be  from 
the  feast  of  All  Saints,  commonly  called  Alhal- 
low-tide,  till  a  week  before  Christmas  ;  and  after 
Christmas  until  the  1st  day  of  March,  and  then 
to  cease  till  the  Passion-week,  being  times  most 
convenient,  both  for  the  temperature  of  the  sea- 
son and  in  respect  of  contagion,  which  may 
happen  in  this  near  access  to  his  majesty's  sacred 
person.  And  when  his  majesty  shall  at  any  time 
think  fit  to  go  any  progress,  he  will  be  pleased 
to  appoint  such  other  times  for  healing  as  shall 
be  most  convenient.  And  his  majesty  doth 
hereby  accordingly  order  and  command,  that, 
from  the  time  of  publishing  this  his  majesty's 
order,  none  presume  to  repair  to  his  majesty's 
court  to  be  healed  of  the  said  disease,  but  only 
at  or  w^ithin  the  times  for  that  purpose  hereby 
appointed  as  aforesaid."  Then  follow  orders  for 
certificates  under  hand  and  seal  from  the  vicar, 
parson  or  minister,  churchwarden,  &c.,  of  the 
parishes  of  the  applicantstestifying  as  to  whether 
they  had  ever  been  touched  before.  Registers 
were  also  directed  to  be  ke{)t  of  these  certificates 
to  prevent  imposture,  and  this  order  was  com- 
manded to  be  read  publicly  in  all  parish  churches, 
and  then  and  there  affixed  to  some  conspicuous 
place. 

The    London    Gazette,    No.   2180,    October 


188  ROYAL    GIFT 

7-11,  1686,  contains  an  advertisement  stating 
that  his  nriajestj  would  heal  weekly  for  the  evil 
upon  Fridays,  and  commanding  the  attendance 
of  the  king's  physicians  and  surgeons  at  the 
Meuse  upon  Thursdays,  in  the  afternoon,  to  ex- 
amine the  cases  and  deliver  tickets. 

The  eagerness  to  obtain  certificates  from  the 
surgeon  was  so  great,  that  in  Evelyn's  '  Diary,' 
for  March  2Sth,  1684,  it  is  said,  "  There  was  so 
great  a  concourse  of  people  with  their  children 
to  be  touch'd  for  the  evil,  that  six  or  seven  were 
crush'd  to  death  by  pressing  at  the  chirurgeon's 
doore  for  tickets."  (v.  i.,  p.  571.)  The  number 
of  cases  after  the  restoration  a[)pears  to  have  in- 
creased greatly,  as  many  as  six  hundred  at  a 
time  being  touched,  and  the  days  appointed 
being  sometimes  thrice  a  week.  Some  were 
immediately  relieved,  others  gradually  so,  and 
few  are  reported  as  not  benefited  by  the  prac- 
tice. The  operation  was  usually  performed  at 
Whitehall  upon  Sundays,  and  the  success  at- 
tending it  may  be  judged  of  by  the  following 
curious  avowal  of  the  kind's  suro-eon  :  "When 
I  consider  his  majesties  gracious  touch,  I  find 
myself  readily  nonplust,  and  shall  ever  affirm, 
that  all  chirurijeons  whatsoever  must  truckle  to 
the  same,  and  come  short  of  his  marvellous  and 
miraculous  method  of  healing ;  and  for  further 
manifestation  hereof,  I  do  humbly  presume  to 
assert,  that  more  souls  have  been  healed  by  his 
majesties  sacred  hand  in  one  year,  than  have 
ever  been  cured  by  all  the  physicians  and  chi- 
rurgeons  of  his  three  kingdoms  ever  since  his 
happy  restoration.     Whereas,  should  an  usurper 


OF   HEALING-  189 

or  tjTaiit  surreptitiously,  by  pride  and  bloody 
massacre,  forcibly  enter  his  royal  throne  and 
touch  at  the  same  experiment,  you'll  never  see 
such  happy  success ;  astryed  by  the  late  usurper 
Cromwell  in  the  late  rebellious  times  ;  influences 
flow  from  theace,  he  having  no  more  right  to 
the  healing  power  than  he  had  to  the  royal  juris- 
diction ;  his  tryal  rather  chequering  and  dark- 
ening the  bright  rays  hereof  and  so  bringing  it 
into  obscurity,  than  aff"ording  it  any  appearance 
of  light." 

Serjeant-Surgeon  Wiseman,  one  of  the  best 
earlv  English  writers  upon  surgery,  bears  testi- 
mony to  the  efficacy  of  the  king's  touch,  and 
he  devotes  an  entire  book  to  the  subject.  He 
strongly  contends  for  the  priority  of  the  Eng- 
lish kintrs  over  those  of  France  in  this  matter, 
and  he  alludes  to  the  controversy  of  the  time  of 
Edward  the  Confessor,  in  which  it  was  dis- 
puted whether  the  cure  of  the  evil  were  a  pecu- 
liar revv^ard  of  the  king's  holiness,  or  rather  a 
hereditary  faculty  attending  the  English  crown. 
Harpstield,  a  renowned  divine  of  the  Romish 
persuasion,  describes,  in  his  '  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory of  England,'  a  miracle  wrought  by  the 
Confessor,  and  says,  "which  admirable  faculty 
of  curing  the  struma,  he  is  justly  believed  to 
have  transmitted  to  his  posterity,  the  kings  of 
England,  and  to  have  continued  it  amongst 
them  to  those   times   in   which    he   wrote."* 

*  "  Quam  Strumosos  sanandi  adrnirahilem  dotem  in  posteros 
suos  Anglorum  Reges,  ad  nostra  usque  tempora  transfudisse 
et  perpetuasse,  mcriio  creditur."  (Hist.  Anglicana  Ecclesi- 
astica,  Duaci,  16:22,  fol.  p.  219. 


190  ROYAL    GIFT 

Wiseman  says,  "I  myself  have  been  a  frequent 
eye-witness  of  many  hundreds  of  cures  per- 
formed by  his  majesties' touch  alone,  without 
any  assistance  of  chirurgery  ;  and  those,  many 
of  them,  such  as  had  tyred  out  the  endeavours 
of  able  chirurgeons  before  they  came  thither. 
It  were  endless  to  recite  what  I  myself  have 
seen,  and  what  I  have  received  acknowledg- 
ments of  by  letter,  not  only  from  the  several 
parts  of  this  nation,  but  also  from  Ireland,  Scot- 
land, Jersey,  and  Guernsey."  And  he  adds, 
"I  must  needs  profess  that  what  I  write  will  do 
little  more  than  show  the  weakness  of  our  ability 
when  compared  with  his  majesty's,  who  cureth 
more  in  any  one  year  than  all  the  chirurgeons 
of  London  have  done  in  an  age."  He  points 
out  the  cases  to  which  tickets  were  given  for 
the  royal  touch.  They  were  to  such  as  have 
tumours  about  the  neck,  and  even  those  accom- 
panied with  thick  chapj)ed  upper  lips  and  eyes 
affected  with  a  lippitudo. 

The  king  must  have  suffered  no  little  incon- 
venience by  his  possession  of  the  miraculous 
power ;  not  only  was  he  doomed  to  those  fre- 
quent regular  days  for  the  healings,  private 
meetings  were  also  held,  and  Mr.  Browne  men- 
tions instances  in  which  he  alone  waited.  The 
kin^  was  also  beset  in  his  walks  by  the  impor- 
tunities of  the  diseased.  A  most  disagreeable 
case  of  this  kind  is  reported,  upon  the  authority 
of  the  celebrated  Elias  Ash  mole,  of  a  man  called 
Arrice  Evans,  generally  known  by  the  name  of 
Evans,  the  Prophet,  whose  condition  was  so 
bad  that  no  one  could   be  found  willing  to  re- 


OF    HEALING.  191 

commend  him  to  the  sovereign's  assistance.  He 
therefore  phiceci  himself  in  St.  James's  Park, 
where  he  knew  the  king  would  walk,  and  upon 
his  majesty's  approach  called  out  and  attracted 
the  king's  notice.  Falling  down  upon  his 
knees,  he  loudly  exclaimed  "  God  bless  your 
majesty !"  which  occasioned  the  king  to  give 
him  his  hand  to  kiss,  when  Evans  availed  him- 
self of  the  opportunity  to  apply  it  to  his  dread- 
fully  ulcerated  nose,  which  from  that  time  im- 
proved and  ultimately  recovered. 

It  has  been  remarked  as  singular,  that  among 
the   vulgar    errors    exposed    by    Sir   Thomas 
Browne,  in  his  'Pseudodoxia  Epidemica,'  there 
should  be  no  mention  made  of  the  royal  gift  of 
healing: ;  but  from  a  case  related  in  the  '  Adeno- 
choiradelogia,'  it  would  seem  that  this  eccentric 
but  able  man  (who  it  will  be  recollected  received 
the  honour  of  kniorhthood  from  Charles  II)  had 
himself  faith  in  the  touch,  inasmuch  as   he  re- 
commended the   child   of  a  nonconformist  in 
Norfolk,  who   had    been  long  under  his  care 
without  receiving  benefit,  to  be  taken  to  the 
king,  then   at  Breda,  or  Bruges.     Little  faith, 
however,  being  held  by  the  father  of  the  child 
as  to  the  efficacy  of  such  intervention,  he  scorned 
the  advice,  and   the  child  was,  therefore,  under 
the  pretence  of  a  change  of  air,  taken  without 
the  privity  of  the  father  abroad   to  the  king, 
wdiere  it  was  submitted  to  the  royal   touch  and 
returned   perfectly  healed.     Astonished  at  the 
change  effected  in  his  child's  ap^pearance,  the 
father  inquired  as  to  the  means  that  had  been 
employed,  and   upon  being   made   acquainted 


192  ROYAL    GIFT 

with  them,  he  not  only  acquired  faith  as  to  the 
power  of  tlie  royal  touch,  but  also  cast  off  his 
nonconformity;  exclaiming-,  "Farewell  to  all 
dissenters  and  to  all  nonconformists.  If  God 
can  put  so  much  virtue  into  the  king's  hand  so 
to  heal  my  child,  I'll  serve  that  God  and  that 
king  so  long  as  I  live  and  with  all  thankfulness." 
Mr.  Wilkin,  in  the  life  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne, 
prefixed  to  the  edition  of  bis  works,  published 
in  1836,  in  four  vols.  8vo.,  thinks  the  belief  of 
Sir  Thomas  Browne  in  the  efficac}'  of  the  royal 
touch  to  be  asserted  upon  slender  grounds  ;  and 
remarks,  that  the  account  given  by  John  Browne, 
in  his  '  Adenochoiradelogia,'  was  after  the  death 
of  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  I  see  no  reason  to 
question  the  veracity  of  the  surgeon,  as  the  state- 
ment is  supported  by  letters  addressed  by  Sir 
ThomasBrowne  to  his  son, Dr.  Edward  Browne, 
and  printed  by  Mr.  Wilkin,  in  one  of  which,  of 
the  date  of  May  29th,  1679,  he  says,  "Mrs. 
Verdon  went  to  London  to  have  her  sonne 
touched ;  if  you  see  her,  remember  my  services ;" 
in  another,  Oct.  2d,  1679,  "  His  majestic  com- 
meth  this  day  to  Newmarket ;  and  I  sliall  have 
occasion  to  write  unto  Serjeant  Knight,  and 
send  certificates  for  the  evill  for  divers;"  in  a 
third,  Sept.  22d,  1680,  "The  king  is  at  New- 
market, and  hath  good  wether  for  his  races  and 
falconrie  ;  divers  go  from  hence  to  bee  touched, 
butt  what  chirurgeons  are  there,  I  yett  under- 
stand not,  nor  what  physitians  attend  his  ma- 
jestie ;"  and  in  a  fourth,  June  6th,  1681,  "My 
cosen  Astley  his  lady  went  about  a  fortnight 
past,  and  caryed  her  sonne  agayne  to  Windsor 


OF   HEALING.  193 

to  bee  touched  agayne,  and  so  he  was."  Had 
Sir  Thomas  Browne  regarded  the  practice  as 
superstitious  he  would  surely,  in  private  letters 
to  his  son,  who  it  must  be  remembered  was  also 
a  physician,  have  accompanied  these  notices 
with  some  objurgatory  remarks. 

Belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  royal  touch  for 
the  cure  of  scrofulous  complaints  was  very  ge- 
neral, not  only  among  the  ignorant  and  humble, 
but  with  the  rich  and  the  educated.     It  is  im- 
possible satisfactorily  to  account  for  the  credu- 
lity of  mankind  in  relation  to  the  cure  of  dis- 
eases ;  and  there  are  not  wanting  instances  in 
our  own  days  of  reliance  upon  means  the  most 
absurd  for  the  removal  of  inveterate  and  incura- 
ble disorders.     Not  only  were  these  marvellous 
healino^s  wTong^ht  by  the  king:  through  the  in- 
strumentality  of  his  touch  and  the  present  of  the 
angel  gold,  but  it  also  appears  that  the  blood  of 
the  sacred  martyr,  Charles  I,  was  equally  po- 
tent in  restoring  the  sick  to  health.     Wiseman 
refers  to  the  miracles  performed  by  the  blood  of 
his  majesty  shed   upon  his  decollation  by  the 
regicides.     Drops  of  blood  were  gathered  on 
chips  and  in  handkerchiefs  by  the  pious  devo- 
tees, who  could  not  but  think  so  great  a  suffer- 
ing in  so  honourable  and  pious  a  cause,  would 
be  attended   by  an  extraordinary  assistance  of 
God  and  some  more  than  ordinary  miracles ; 
nor  did  their  faith,  says  he,  deceive  them  in  this 
point,  there  being  so  many  hundreds  that  found 
the   benefit  of  it.     John  Browne  also  relates 
several  instances  of  this  kind,  vouched  for  by 
persons  in  high  stations  of  life,  some  of  whom 

17 


194  ROYAL    GIFT 

are  at  this  day  known  to  us  by  their  writings 
and  talent. 

From  the  '  Collection  of  State  Trials'*  we 
learn  that  in  the  36th  Charles  II,  a.d.  1684, 
Thomas  Rosewell,  a  dissenting  teacher,  was 
tried  in  the  Court  of  Kincr's  Bench  for  high 
treason ;  and  among  other  things  preferred 
against  him  in  the  indictment  were  w^ords  to 
the  following  effect :  "That  the  people  made  a 
flocking  to  the  king,  upon  pretence  of  healing 
the  king's  evil,  which  he  could  not  do ;  but  we 
are  they  to  whom  they  ought  to  flock,  because 
we  are  priests  and  prophets,  who  can  heal  their 
griefs.  We  have  now  had  two  wicked  kings 
together,  who  have  permitted  Popery  to  enter 
under  their  noses,  whom  we  can  resemble  to 
no  other  person  but  to  the  most  wicked  Jero- 
boam :  and  if  you  will  stand  to  your  principles, 
I  do  not  fear  but  we  shall  be  able  to  overcome 
our  enemies,  as  in  former  times,  with  rams- 
horns,  broken  platters,  and  a  stone  in  a  sling. 
These  words  three  witnesses  swore  to  his  havinof 
used  in  a  discourse  delivered  at  a  conventicle  ; 
and,  although  their  testimony  was  not  only  un- 
supported, but  distinctly  contradicted,  the  bit- 
terness of  the  presiding  judge  (Jefferies)  against 
conventicles  and  unlicensed  preaching  was  such 
that  it  was  received,  and  the  prisoner  found 
guilty.  He  was,  however,  afterwards  pardoned 
by  the  kinq-. 

James  II.     This  king  practised  the  touch. 
In    the  '  Diary  of  Bishop  Cartwright,'  lately 

«  Vol.  X.,  p.  147-307. 


OF    HEALING.  195 

published,  under  the  editorship  of  the  Rev.  Jo- 
seph Hunter,  by  the  Camden  Society,  at  the 
date  of  August  28,  1637,  we  read  :  "I  was  at 
his  majesty's  levee;  from  whence,  at  nine 
o'clock,  I  attended  him  into  the  choir,  where  he 
healed  350  persons.  After  which  he  went  to 
his  devotions  in  the  shire-hall,  and  Mr.  Penn 
held  forth  in  the  tennis-court,  and  I  preached 
in  the  Cathedral.*  Mr.  Creech,  in  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Charlett,t  says  :  "  On  Sunday  morning  the 
king  (James  II)  touched,  Warner  and  VVhite 
officiating;  all  that  waited  on  his  majesty  kneeled 
at  the  prayers,  beside  the  Duke  of  Beaufort, 
who  stood  all  the  time." 

Anne.  The  form  of  prayer  for  healing  is,  as 
already  said,  to  be  found  in  the  '  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,'  printed  in  this  queen's  reign. 
She  touched  for  the  evil  at  Oxfordf  and  else- 
Vvdiere.  On  March  30,  1714,  she  touched  200 
persons,  among  whom  was  our  celebrated  lexi- 
cogra])her  and  moralist,  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson. 
He,  when  four  years  and  half  old,  was  sent  to 
the  queen  to  undergo  this  ceremony  at  the  in- 
stigation of  Sir  John  Floyer,  a  physician  of  emi- 
nence, who  practised  at  Litchfield,  the  place  of 
Johnson's  birth.  Its  inefficacy,  in  this  instance 
at  least,  was  fully  established,  for  he  suffered 
much  from  the  disease  during  the  whole  of  his 
life,  and  bore  evidence  to  the  virulence  of  the 
disorder. 

*  The  Diary  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cartwright,  Bishop  of  Ches- 
ter.    Lond.  1843,  4lo.,  p.  74. 

t  Aubrey's  Letters,  vol.  i.,  p.  46. 
\  See  Barrington  on  the  Statutes. 


196  ROYAL   GIFT 

Dr.  Daniel  Turner*  relates  several  cases  of 
scrofula,  which  had  been  unsuccessfully  treated 
by  himself  and  Mr.  Charles  Bernard,  serjeant- 
surgeon  to  her  majesty,  yielding  afterwards  to 
the  efficacy  of  the  royal  touch  of  Queen  Anne. 
"  Albeit,"  says  he,  "  it  is  the  misfortune  of  some 
to  miss  of  their  cures,  after  much  pain  and  great 
expense,  yet  it  has  been  the  good  hap  of  others 
to  obtain  one  (a  cure)  in  this  particular  disease, 
with  as  little  of  either  (expense  or  pain);  I 
mean  by  the  royal  touch.'''' 

Oldmixonf  says,  "  Yesterday  the  queen  was 
graciously  pleased  to  touch  for  the  king's  evil 
some  particular  persons  in  private  ;  and  three 
weeks  after,  December  19th,  yesterday,  about 
twelve  at  noon,  her  majesty  was  pleased  to 
touch  at  St.  James's  about  twenty  persons  af- 
flicted with  the  king's  evil.  The  more  ludi^ 
crous  sort  of  skeptic's  in  this  case,  asked  why  it 
was  not  called  the  queen's  evil,  as  the  chief 
court  of  justice  was  called  the  Queen's  Bench. 
But  Charles  Bernard,  the  surgeon,  wdio  had 
made  this  touching  the  subject  of  his  raillery 
all  his  lifetime,  till  he  became  body  surgeon  at 
court,  and  found  it  a  good  perquisite,  solved  all 
difficulties  by  telling  his  companions  with  a 
fleer,  '  Really  one  could  not  have  thought  it,  if  one 
had  not  seen  it'  A  friend  of  mine  heard  him 
say  it,  and  knew  well  his  opinion  of  it." 

"  Bath,  October  6,  a  great  number  of  persons 
coming  to  this  place  to  be  touched  by  the  queen's 

*   Art  of  Surgery.     Lond.  1732,  2  vols.,  8vo. 
t  History  of  England,  vol.  ii.,  p.  302. 


OF   HEALING.  197 

majesty  for  the  evil,  her  majesty  commanded 
Dr.  Thomas  Gardiner,  her  chief  surgeon,  to  ex- 
amine them  all  particularly,  which  accordingly 
was  done  by  him ;  of  whom  but  thirty  appeared 
to  have  the  evil,  which  he  certified  by  tickets, 
as  is  usual,  and  those  thirty  were  all  touched 
that  day  privately,  by  reason  of  her  majesty's  not 
having  a  proper  conveniency  for  the  solemnity." 

The  Pretenders.  Pinkerton's  reference  to 
the  touch-pieces  of  the  Pretenders  seems  to 
warrant  the  inference  that  they  also  attempted 
to  exercise  the  ceremony  of  healing.  Carte,  the 
historian,  was  deprived  of  his  annual  subsidy 
from  the  chamber  of  London,  for  asserting  the 
power  of  healing  by  the  imposition  of  hands  to 
exist  in  the  Stuart  family.  This  subsidy  con- 
sisted of  a  subscription  by  the  corporation  of 
London  towards  the  publication  of  a  History  of 
England.  It  was  unanimously  withdrawn  in 
1748,  upon  a  motion  made  and  seconded  by  Sir 
William  Calvert  and  Sir  John  Barnard  ;  and  the 
w^ork,  in  consequence,  fell  into  very  undeserved 
neglect.  Its  merits,  however,  are-  correctly  ap- 
preciated in  the  present  day. 

I  have  thus  traced  the  touching  for  the  evil 
during  the  reigns  enumerated,  in  which  evidence 
appears  to  establish  the  exercise  of  the  privilege. 
In  reviewing  the  whole,  it  is  impossible  not  to 
feel  surprised  at  the  extent  of  the  practice  and 
the  length  of  time  that  it  prevailed.  That  many 
persons  so  touched  and  labouring  under  a  scrofu- 
lous disposition,  should  receive  benefit,  may  not 
unfairly  be  admitted  ;  and  an  explanation  of  it 
is  probably  afforded  by  the  beneficial  effect  pro- 

17* 


198  ROYAL   GIFT   OF   HEALING. 

duced  on  the  system  occasioned  by  tlie  strong 
feeling  of  hope  and  certainty  of  cure.  Such 
feelings  are  calculated  to  impart  tone  to  the  sys- 
tem generally,  and  benefit  those  of  a  scrofulous 
diathesis,  in  whom  the  powers  are  always  weak 
and  feeble.  According  to  the  extent  in  which 
the  touching  was  performed  by  Charles  II,  the 
disease  ought,  admitting  the  royal  power  of  heal- 
ing, to  have  been  exterminated,  instead  of  which 
we  find  that  during  his  reign  the  deaths  from 
the  disease  exceeded  those  of  any  other  period. 
Persons,  it  must  be  remembered,  flocked  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  to  undergo  this  opera- 
tion ;  and  no  medical  or  surgical  aid  was  re- 
sorted to. 

"Imagination,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  "is  next 
akin  to  miracle  —  a  working  faith;"  and  it  has 
been  attempted  to  account  for  the  cures  eflfected 
by  the  powder  of  the  imagination.  There  ap- 
pears, indeed,  to  be  no  other  natural  method  to 
which  we  can  ascribe  the  good  eflfects  recorded 
on  the  testimony  of  Wiseman  and  other  compe- 
tent authorities.  To  this,  how^ever,  it  has  been 
objected  that  infants,  wdio  have  no  apprehension 
of  their  case,  who  can  be  under  no  preposses- 
sions, nor  capable  of  exercising  any  power  of 
fancy,  have  been  as  frequently  cured  as  others. 
Dr.  Heylin  declares  that  he  has  "seen  some 
children  brought  before  the  king  by  the  hanging 
sleeves,  some  hanging  at  their  molhers'  breasts, 
and  others  in  the  arms  of  their  nurses,  all  touched, 
and  cured  without  the  help  of  a  serviceable 
imagination." 

With  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Brunswick 
the  practice  of  healing  by  the  royal  touch  ceased. 


VALENTINE  GREATRAKES'  CURES. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century^ 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  Mr.  Valentine  Great- 
rakes,  a  gentleman,  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  of  great  honesty  and  exemplary  so- 
briety, who  is  said  always  to  have  refused  any 
gratuity  for  his  performances,  excited  great  no- 
toriety, and  became,  by  superstitious  feehngs, 
the  most  celebrated  quack  of  the  day.  He  was 
a  native  of  Affane,  in  the  county  of  Waterford, 
in  Ireland,  born  of  a  good  family,  and  had  re- 
ceived a  good  education.  In  1649,  he  entered 
into  the  service  of  the  English  Parliament,  and 
remained  in  the  army  until  1656,  when,  upon 
the  disbandonment  of  great  part  of  the  English, 
he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  there  was 
engaged  in  several  duties  of  importance,  being 
registrar  for  transplantation,  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  clerk  of  the  peace  for  the  county  of  Cork, 
&c.  He  lost  those  places  at  the  time  of  the  Re- 
storation, and  it  was  then,  as  he  describes  it,  he 
"  felt  an  impulse  that  the  gift  of  curing  the  king's 
evil  was  bestowed  upon  him."  His  impulse 
was  not  long  confined  to  the  attempted  cure  of 
this  solitary  disease,  for,  converts  rapidly  suc- 
ceeding, he  undertook  the  cure  of  ague,  epilepsy, 
convulsions,  palsy,  deafness,  and  various  other 
complaints  all  peculiarly  under  the  influence  of 


200    VALENTINE  GREATRAKES'  CURES. 

the  nervous  system,  and  all  of  which  were  there- 
fore likely  to  be  benefited  by  the  power  exercised 
over  the  imagination.  He  published  an  account 
of  his  cures  first  in  1666,  in  the  shape  of  a  Let- 
ter addressed  to  the  Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  accom- 
panied by  testimonials  from  Bishop  Wilkins, 
Bishop  Patrick,  Dr.  Cud  worth.  Dr.  Whichcot, 
and  others  of  distinction  and  intelligence.  This 
book  is  rare,  the  greater  part  of  the  impression 
having  been  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  Lon- 
don, and  it  was  not  reprinted  until  1723,  by 
some  one  who,  believing  the  cures  to  have  been 
effected  by  miraculous  and  supernatural  opera- 
tion, thought  it  his  duty  to  revive  the  subject. 
Those  who  may  be  desirous  of  examining  into 
the  cases,  may  consult  the  work  already  referred 
to,  and  '  Stubbe's  Miraculous  Conformist,  or  an 
Account  of  severall  Marvailous  Cures  performed 
by  the  Streaking  of  the  Hands  of  Mr.  Valentine 
Greatarick:'  Oxford,  1666,  4to. 

John  Leverett,  a  gardener,  succeeded  to  the 
"  manual  exercise,"  and  declared  that,  after 
touching  thirty  or  forty  a  day,  he  felt  so  much 
goodness  go  out  of  him  that  he  was  as  fatigued 
as  if  he  had  been  digging  eight  roods  of  ground. 
This  is  precisely  what  is  now  being  affirmed  by 
the  animal  magnetizers. 


8YMPATHETICAL  CURES. 

"  This  is  an  art 

Which  does  mend  nature but 

The  art  itself  is  nalui-e." 

Winter's  Tale. 

During  the  reigns  of  James  I  and  Charles  I,  a 
popular  belief  prevailed  in  the  sympathetica! 
cures  of  wounds.  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  a  gen- 
tleman of  the  bedchamber  to  Charles  I,  an  eccen- 
tric genius,  described  by  Dr.  Walter  Charleton 
as  "  a  noble  person,  who  hath  built  up  his  rea- 
son to  so  transcendant  a  height  of  knoivledge, 
as  may  seem  not  much  beneath  the  state  of  man 
in  innocence,"  discoursed  before  an  assembly  of 
nobles  and  learned  men  at  Montpellier  in  France, 
"  touching  the  cure  of  wounds  by  the  powder  of 
sympathy,"  and  professed  to  have  the  merit  of 
introducing  the  same  into  this  quarter  of  the 
world.  Mr.  James  Howel,  a  gentleman  cele- 
brated by  his  '  Dendrologia'  and  other  works, 
in  endeavouring  to  part  two  of  his  friends  in  a 
duel,  received  a  severe  wound  of  his  hand. 
Alarmed  at  this  accident,  one  of  the  combatants 
bound  up  the  cut  with  his  garter,  took  him 
home,  and  sent  for  assistance.  The  king,  upon 
hearing  of  the  event,  sent  one  of  his  own  sur- 
geons to  attend  him  ;  but  as  in  the  course  of  four 


202  SYMPATHETICAL   CURES. 

or  five  days  the  wound  was  not  recovering  very 
favourably,  he  made  application  to  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby,  of  whose  knowledge  regarding  some  ex- 
traordinary remedies  for  the  healing  of  wounds 
he  had  become  apprized.  Sir  Kenelm  first  in- 
quired whether  he  possessed  anything  that  had 
the  blood  upon  it,  upon  which  Mr.  Howel  im- 
mediately named  the  garter  with  which  his 
hand  had  been  bound,  which  was,  accordingly 
sent  for.  A  basin  of  water  beino^  brought,  Sir 
Kenelm  put  into  it  a  handful  of  powder  of  vitriol, 
and  dissolved  it  therein.  He  then  took  the 
bloody  garter,  and  immersed  it  in  the  fluid, 
while  Mr.  H.  stood  conversinof  with  a  gentle- 
man  in  a  corner  of  the  room  ;  but  he  suddenly 
started,  and,  upon  being  asked  the  reason,  re- 
plied that  he  had  lost  all  pain  —  that  a  pleasing 
kind  of  freshness,  as  it  were  a  wet,  cold  napkin 
had  passed  over  his  hand,  and  that  the  inflam- 
mation, which  before  had  been  so  tormenting, 
had  vanished.  ^He  was  then  advised  to  lay 
aside  all  his  plasters,  to  keep  the  wound  clean, 
and  in  a  moderate  temperature.  After  dinner, 
the  garter  was  taken  out  of  the  basin  and  placed 
to  dry  before  a  large  fire  :  but  uo  sooner  was 
this  done  than  Mr.  H.'s  servant  came  running 
to  Sir  Kenelm  to  say  that  her  master's  hand 
had  again  inflamed,  and  that  it  was  as  bad  as 
before  ;  whereupon  the  garter  was  again  placed 
into  the  liquid,  and  before  the  return  of  the  ser- 
vant all  was  well  and  easy  again.  In  the  course 
of  five  or  six  days  the  wound  was  cicatrized, 
and  a  cure  performed. 

This  case  excited  considerable  attention  at 


SYMPATHETICAL    CURES.  203 

the  court,  and  the  king,  making  inquiry  re- 
specting it  of  Sir  Kenehn  Digby,  his  Majesty 
learnt  that  the  knight  had  obtained  the  secret 
from  a  CarmeUte  friar  who  had  travelled  in 
various  parts  of  the  world,  and  who  became 
possessed  of  it  while  journeying  in  the  East 
Sir  Kenelm  communicated  it  to  the  king's  phy- 
sician, Dr.  Mayerne,  whence  it  passed  into 
many  hands,  so  that  there  was  scarce  a  country 
barber  but  had  acquaintance  with  it. 

Sir  Kenelm  Digby's  object  in  his  discourse 
at  Montpellier  was  to  show  that  the  sympathe- 
tica! cure  was  effected  naturally.  It  would  be 
a  waste  of  time  to  enter  upon  a  narrative  of  the 
eccentric  methods  employed  by  Sir  Kenelm  to 
explain  the  action  of  his  pow^der  of  sympathy,  to 
detail  his  conjectures  with  regard  to  the  emana- 
tion of  light,  the  action  of  the  impinging  rays, 
the  formation  of  wind,  &c. ;  but  his  inferences 
from  these,  and  his  application  of  them  to  Mr. 
Howel's  case,  may,  from  his  own  account,  be 
abridged  thus:  Mr.  Howel  received  a  wound 
upon  his  hand  —  great  inflammation  followed 
the  injury  —  his  garter  was  taken  covered  with 
the  blood  from  the  wound,  and  steeped  in  a  basin 
of  water  in  which  a  quantity  of  vitriol  was  dis- 
solved. The  basin  was  kept  in  the  daytime  in 
a  closet  exposed  to  the  moderate  heat  of  the  sun, 
and  at  night  in  the  chimney  corner,  so  that  the 
blood  upon  the  garter  was  always  in  a  good 
natural  temperature.  The  light  of  the  sun,  Sir 
Kenelm  says,  will  attract  from  a  great  extent  > 
and  distance  the  spirits  of  the  blood  which  are 
upon  the  garter,  and  the  moderate  heat  of  the 


204  SYMPATHETICAL    CURES. 

hearth  will  throw  off  numerous  atoms  from  it. 
The  spirit  of  vitriol  being  incorporated  with  the 
blood  will  make  the  same  voyage  together  with 
the  atoms  of  the  blood.  The  wounded  hand,  in 
the  meantime,  exhales  abundance  of  hot  spirits, 
which  rush  forth  from  the  inflamed  part,  and 
the  wound  will  consequently  draw  in  the  air 
which  is  next  to  it,  in  the  manner  of  a  current, 
about  the  wound.  With  this  air  is  found  an 
incorporation  of  the  atoms  of  the  blood  and  the 
vitriol,  and  those  atoms,  finding  their  proper 
source  and  original  root  whence  they  sprung, 
remain  there  in  their  primitive  receptacles, 
leaving  the  air  to  evaporate  away.  The  atoms 
of  the  blood  and  the  spirits  of  vitriol  then  jointly 
imbibe  together  within  all  the  fibres  and  orifices 
of  the  vessels  about  the  wound,  which  is  ac- 
cordingly comforted,  and,  in  fine,  imperceptibly 
cured.  This  is,  I  believe,  a  fair  statement  of 
the  opinions  of  Sir  K.  Digby  and  the  sympa- 
thetical  philosophers.* 

Their  doctrine  and  the  employment  of  the 
vitriol  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the  times  of  Para- 
celsus, who,  in  some  points  of  view,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  first  fabricator  of  the  powder  of 
sympathy.  Van  Helmont,  the  panegyrist  of  his 
predecessor  Paracelsus,  acquaints  us  that  the 
secret  was  first  put  forth  by  Ericcius  Mohyus, 
of  Eburo.     Van  Helmont  espoused  the  doctrine, 

*  It  is  very  remarkable  that,  in  the  Autobiographical  Me- 
moir published  by  Sir  Harris  Nicholas,  from  a  MS.  in  the 
Harleian  Collection,  Number  6758,  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  makes 
no  mention  of,  or  allusion  to,  the  sympathetical  cure  of 
wounds. 


SYMPATHETICAL    CURES.  205 

and  extended  the  practice,  combining  with  it 
numerous  other  absurdities  in  relation  to  phil- 
tres, love  potions  and  powders,  sympathies,  an- 
tipathies, &c.  His  waitings  on  the  '  Magnetick 
Cure  of  Wounds,'  &c.,  have  been  translated  by 
Dr.  Charleton,  and  published  under  the  title  of 
'  A  Ternary  of  Paradoxes,'  Lond.  1650,  4to. ; 
and  the  practice  has  been  supported  and  de- 
fended by  Goclenius,  Burgravius,  Descartes, 
Kircher,  Servius,  Baptista  Porta,  Severinus, 
Hortmannus,  Gilbertus,  Papin,  Cabseus,  Ro- 
bertus  Fludd,  &c.,  &c.  Charleton  ascribes  the 
cures  to  magnetism. 

The  method  described  by  Sir  Kenelm  Digby 
in  Mr.  Howel's  case,  was  that  which  is  called 
the  cure  by  the  w^et  way  ;  but  it  was  also  ef- 
fected in  a  dry  way  ;  and  Straus,  in  a  letter  to 
Sir  Kenelm,  gives  an  account  of  a  cure  per- 
formed by  Lord  Gilbourne,  an  English  noble- 
man, upon  a  carpenter  who  had  cut  himself  se- 
verely with  his  axe.  The  axe,  bespattered  v/ith 
blood,  was  sent  for,  besmeared  with  an  ointment, 
wrapped  up  warmly,  and  carefully  hung  up  m 
a  closet.  The  carpenter  was  immediately  re- 
lieved, and  all  went  on  well  for  some  time,  when, 
however,  the  wound  became  exceedingly  pain- 
ful, and,  upon  resorting  to  his  lordship,  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  axe  had  fallen  from  the  nail 
by  which  it  was  suspended,  and  thereby  be- 
come uncovered ! 

Dryden,  in  the  '  Tempest,'  Act.  v.,  sc.  1,  makes 
Ariel  to  say,  in  reference  to  the  wound  received 
by  Hippolito  from  Ferdinand  — 

18 


206  SYMPATHETICAL    CURES. 

"  He  must  be  dress'd  again,  as  I  have  done  it. 
Anoint  the  sword  which  pierced  him  with  this  weapon- 
salve,  and  wrap  it  close  from  air,  till  I  have  time  to  visit 
him  again." 


o 


And  in  the  next  scene  the  following  dialogue 
ensues  between  Hippolito  and  Miranda  : 

Hip.  O  my  wound  pains  me. 
Mir.  I  am  come  to  ease  you. 

[She  unwraps  the  sword. 
Hip.  Alas !  I  feel  the  cold  air  come  to  me  ; 

My  wound  shoots  worse  than  ever. 

[She  wipes  and  anoints  the  sword. 
Mir.  Does  it  still  grieve  you  1 
Hip.  Now  methinks,  there's  something 

Laid  just  upon  it. 
Mir.  Do  you  find  no  ease? 
Hip.  Yes,  yes,  upon  the  sudden,  all  the  pain 

Is  leaving  me.     Sweet  heaven,  how  I  am  eased  ! 

Werenfels  says,  "If  the  superstitious  person 
be  wounded  by  any  chance,  he  applies  the  salve, 
not  to  the  wound,  but,  what  is  more  effectual, 
to  the  weapon  by  which  he  received  it.  By  a 
new  kind  of  art,  he  will  transplant  his  disease, 
like  a  scion,  and  graft  it  into  what  tree  he 
pleases." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  practice  was  at 
one  time  very  general,  but  it  would  now  be  a 
waste  of  time  to  go  into  the  particulars  respect- 
ing the  various  compositions  of  the  sympatheti- 
ca! curers ;  the  manner  in  which  their  vitriol 
was  to  be  prepared  by  exposure  for  365  days  to 
the  sun,  the  unguents  of  human  fat  and  blood, 
mummy,  moss  of  dead  man's  skull,  bull's  blood 
and  fat,  and  other   disgusting   ingredients;   it 


SYMPATHETICAL    CURES.  207 

may,  however,  be  told  as  characteristic  of  the 
ignorance,  superstition,  and  barbarity  of  the  age, 
that  a  serious  discussion  was  long  maintained  in 
consequence  of  a  schism  in  the  sympathetica! 
school,  "  whether  it  was  necessary  that  the  moss 
should  grow  absolutely  in  the  skull  of  a  thief 
who  had  huno^  on  the  crallows,  and  whether  the 
ointment,  while  compounding,  was  to  be  stirred 
with  a  murderer's  knife  ?"  "  You  smile,"  says 
Van  Helmont,  "because  Goclenius  chooses  for 
an  ingredient  into  the  unguent  that  moss  only 
which  is  ofathered  off  the  skull  of  a  man  of  three 
letters''  (f  u  r). 

It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  cures  of  the  de- 
scription alluded  to  should  soon  be  looked  upon 
as  the  result  of  magic,  incantations,  and  other 
supernatural  means;  and  that  the  professors  of 
the  sympathetic  art,  therefore,  should  have  been 
anxious  to  account  for  the  effects  by  natural 
causes.  Such  appears  to  have  been  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby's  chief  aim  before  the  doctors  of  Mont- 
pellier,  and  similar  reasonings  upon  the  subject 
may  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  supporters 
of  the  system  already  mentioned,  who  advocated 
the  plan  of  treatment  and  vouched  for  its  effi- 
cacy. In  this  search  for  natural  means  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  obtained,  the  obvious  one 
was  overlooked ;  and  the  history  I  have  given 
would  be  uninteresting  but  for  the  valuable 
practical  lesson  which  these  experiments  have 
afforded.  We  owe  to  this  folly  the  introduction 
of  one  of  the  first  principles  of  surgery — one 
which  in  this  country  has  done  more  to  advance 
the  science  than  any  other  beside  — =  one  which, 


208  SYMPATHETICAL    CURES. 

lias  saved  a  vast  amount  of  human  suffering  and 
preserved  innumerable  lives.  The  history  of 
the  doctrine  of  healing  wounds  by  the  powder 
of  sympathy  is  the  history  of  adhesion  —  the 
history  of  union  by  the  first  intention  —  a  his- 
tory which  until  the  time  of  John  Hunter  was 
never  fairly  developed  or  distinctly  compre- 
hended. 

It  has  been  well  observed  by  the  late  Mr. 
John  Bell,  that  "it  is  an  old,  but  a  becoming 
and  modest  thought,  that  in  our  profession  we 
are  but  the  ministers  of  nature ;  and  indeed  the 
surgeon,  still  more  than  the  physician,  achieves 
nothing  by  his  own  immediate  power,  but  does 
all  his  services  by  observing  and  managing  the 
properties  of  the  living  body  ;  where  the  living 
principle  is  so  strong  and  active  in  every  part 
that  by  that  energy  alone  it  regenerates  any  lost 
substance,  or  reunites  in  a  more  immediate  way 
the  more  simple  wounds."  A  wound,  in  general 
terms,  may  be  defined  to  be  a  breach  in  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  soft  parts  of  the  body  ;  and  an  in- 
cised wound  is  the  most  simple  of  its  kind. 
These,  it  must  be  remembered,  were  of  the  de- 
scription of  wounds  to  which  the  sympathetical 
curers  resorted,  and  their  secret  of  cure  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  rest  and  quiet  which  the 
wounded  parts  were  permitted  to  enjoy,  in  op- 
position to  the  ordinary  treatment  under  the 
fallacious  doctrine  and  practice  of  that  day  in 
digesting,  mundificating,  incarnating,  &c.  Sur- 
geons in  former  times  seem  really  by  their  modes 
of  treatment  to  have  tried  how  far  it  was  possi- 
ble to  impede   instead  of  to  facilitate  the  pro- 


SYMPATHETICAL    CURES.  209 

cesses  of  nature  ;  and  to  those  who  are  acquaint- 
ed with  modern  surgery  it  ahnost  appears  mi- 
raculous that  they  ever  should  have  been  able 
to  have  produced  union  of  any  wound  whatever. 
What  is  the  mode  of  treatment  now  employed 
by  the  surgeon  in  the  healing  of  a  wound  ?  To 
clear  it  from  extraneous  matter,  to  brings  the 
edges  in  apposition,  to  keep  them  in  contact  by 
a  proper  bandage,  to  modify  temperature,  and 
to  give  rest.  What  is  this  but  the  mode  of  pro- 
cedure on  the  part  of  the  sympathetical  curers? 
They  washed  the  wound  with  water,  kept  it 
clean  and  undisturbed,  and  in  a  few  days  the 
union  of  parts  —  the  process  of  adhesion  —  Mas 
perfected,  and  the  cure  was  complete.  The 
doctrine  of  adhesion,  the  exudation  of  lymph, 
the  junction  of  old  or  the  formation  of  new  ves- 
sels, and  the  consequent  agglutination  of  parts 
was  then  ill  understood  :  subtle  and,  in  many 
instances  it  must  be  admitted,  ingenious  reasons 
were  resorted  to,  to  account  for  the  effects  pro- 
duced, and  the  true  solution  of  the  process  was 
everlooked  —  the  effect  was  apparent  but  the 
cause  was  obscure. 

The  rapidity  with  which  a  restoration  of  the 
continuity  of  parts  is  effected  is  astonishing.  It 
is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  find  after  operations  a 
union  of  the  severed  parts,  to  a  very  considera- 
ble extent,  produced  in  twenty-four,  thirty -six, 
or  forty-eight  hours.  I  have  seen  the  whole 
surface  of  an  amputated  limb  healed  in  the 
course  of  three  days.  The  reported  cures,  there- 
fore, of  the  sympathetic  doctors  are  easily  to  be 
credited,  and  the  mystery  connected  with  it  dis- 


210  SYJMPATHETICAL    CURES. 

pelled  by  the  lights  of  modern  surgery  and 
physiology.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  gun- 
shot wounds  never  can  heal  by  the  adhesive 
process,  and  that  in  no  instance  does  it  appear 
that  attempts  were  made  by  the  sympathists  to 
interfere  in  these  cases.  Their  operations  were 
judiciously  confined  to  simple  incised  wounds  ; 
and  these  we  have  seen  are  of  a  description 
readily  to  unite  if  properly  cleansed,  brought 
together,  and  left  undisturbed. 

The  Taliacotian  art  owes  its  origin  to  the 
doctrine  of  adhesion  ;  but  this  forms  not  any 
part  of  the  present  inquiry,  inasmuch  as  it  did 
not  emanate  from  any  preconceived  superstition 
entertained  respecting  it. 

The  cruel  practices  of  ancient  surgeons  are 
now  happily  abolished  ;  nature  is  the  guide,  and 
her  operations  must  be  watched  with  scrupulous 
accuracv.  Nothing-  can  orive  g-reater  satisfaction 
to  the  humane  surgeon  and  philosopher  than  the 
contemplation  of  the  change  of  practice  resulting 
from  modern  researches  in  the  healing  art :  ad- 
vantage has  been  taken  of  the  errors  of  our  an- 
cestors, and  their  blunders  even  turned  to  pre- 
sent good.  To  dwell  upon  the  subject  any 
longer  is  unnecessary,  as  the  powers  of  nature 
in  the  restoration  of  parts  is  fully  established 
and  well  understood;  and  to  such  an  extent 
does  this  exist  that  we  know  that  parts  entirely 
separated  from  the  body  have  been  reapplied 
and  united.*     There  are  not  wanting  well-au- 

*  Garengeot,  a  celebrated  French  Surgeon,  asserts  that  he 
had  seen  a  nose  which  had  been  bitten  off  ia  a  quarrel,  thrown 


SYMPATHETIC AL    CURES.  211 

thenticated  cases  of  the  union  of  the   nose,  ear, 
and  other  parts  of  the  body,  after  being  nearly 

upon  the  ground,  allowed  to  get  cool,  taken  up,  fixed  to  the 
face,  and  adhere  again ;  and  he  records  (Traite  des  Opera- 
tions de  Chirurgie,  vol.  iii.),  that  M.  Galin  produced  a  similar 
union  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  nose  after  it  had  been 
bitten  off  and  spit  out  into  a  dirty  gutter.     It  was  well  washed, 
and,  upon  the  return  of  the  soldier,  who,  having  suffered  this 
mutilation,  had  pursued  his  adversary,  re-applied  to  his  face. 
Garengeot  examined  the  man  on   the  fourth  day,  and  found 
the  wound  completely  cicatrized.  — Blegny  (Zodiacus  Medico- 
Gallicus,  Mar.  1680)  records  a  similar  case  of  union  after  a 
sabre  cut  ;    and    Mr.  Carpue,  in    his  excellent   '  Account  of 
Two    Successful    Operations    for    restoring   a   Lost   Nose,' 
makes  reference  to  Lombard,  Loubel,  and  others,  who  have 
been   successful   in   like   cases.  —  Sir   Leonard   Fioravanti, 
a  Bolognese,  states,  in  his  '  Rational  Secrets  and  Chirurgery 
Reviewed,'  that,  when  in  Africa,  he  was  witness  to  a  dispute 
between  a  Spanish  gentleman  and  a  military  officer,  which 
led  to  a  combat,  in  which  the  latter  struck  off  the  nose  of  his 
adversary,  and  it  fell  into  the  sand.     Fioravanti  took  it  up, 
washed  it  with  warm  water,  dressed  the  part  with  his  balsan), 
bound  it  up,  and  left  it  undisturbed  during  eight  days,  at  the 
expiration  of  which  time  he  examined  it,  and  was  surprised  to 
find  that  the  wounded  parts   had  adhered.  —  Taliacotius  re- 
lates that,  in  a  fray  between  some  drunken  young  men,  one 
of  the  party  had  his  nose  cut  off  by  a  sword.     The  assailant 
fled,  and  was  pursued  by  his  opponent,  regardless  of  his  nose, 
which  was  left  in  a  gutter.     Taliacotius  picked  it  up,  cleaned 
it,  and,  upon  the  return  of  its  owner,  adjusted  the  cut  surfaces 
with  particular  accuracy,  so  that  complete  adhesion  followed. 
—  The  '  Journal  Hebdomadaire'   records  two  cases  by  Dr. 
Barthelemy  in  which  union  of  the  nose  had  taken  place  after 
complete  separation.     One  was  that  of  an  officer  at  Lyons,  in 
1815,  who  liad  the  end  of  his  nose  cut  off  in  a  duel  by  his  ad- 
versary's sabre.     He  put  the  severed  portion  in  his  pocket, 
kept  it  warm,  returned  home  and  sent  for  a  surgeon,  who  re- 
placed it,  and  adhesion  was  effected,     The  other  case,  which 
is  given  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Regnault,  was  in  a  man  who, 
in  a  fight  with  another,  had  part  of  his  nose  bitten  off.     He 


212  SYMPATHETICAL    CURES. 

separated  from  it,  hanging  by  a  very  small  por- 
tion of  skin,  suf&cient,  iiowever,  to  support  the 

wrapped  it  up  in  his  handkerchief,  put  it  into  his  pocket,  and 
for  four  or  five  hours  only  bewailed  his  loss.  He  was  at  length 
urged  to  apply  to  a  surgeon,  who  steeped  it  in  warm  alcohol, 
placed  the  divided  parts  in  contact,  and  in  ten  days  they  were 
reunited.  —  Portions  of  the  ear  have  also  been  cut  ofl^,  re- 
applied, and  union  effected.  I  know  one  case  in  which  the 
entire  ear  was  torn  off,  carefully  replaced,  and  perfect  adhesion 
procured.  —  A  case  no  less  extraordinary,  perhaps  more  so, 
from  the  structure  of  the  parts  concerned,  was  related  in  the 
'  Edinbursrh  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal'  for  1814.  It  oc- 
curred  in  Scotland,  and  is  judicially  attested.  A  finger  was 
entirely  cut  off,  replaced  and  united,  suffering  only  the  loss  of 
the  nail,  —  Mr.  Peacock,  a  surgeon,  at  Liverpool,  communi- 
cated to  the  editors  of  the  '  London  Medical  Repository'  (vol. 
vi.,  p.  368)  a  case  of  union  of  a  finger,  divided  at  the  middle 
joint.  A  young  gentleman,  about  ten  years  of  age,  cut  through 
the  middle  joint  of  his  forefinger  with  a  carving  knife  so  com- 
pletely, that  the  part  of  the  finger  beyond  the  division  was 
hanging  by  a  piece  of  the  integument  not  thicker  than  a 
common  probe.  The  ligaments  and  bloodvessels  were  com- 
pletely divided.  The  severed  parts  were  placed  in  apposition, 
and  firmly  retained  by  a  splint.  At  the  expiration  of  eight 
days,  the  parts  had  completely  united.  The  natural  warmth 
and  sensation  of  the  finger  gradually  returned,  and  the  motion 
of  the  joint  became  as  free  and  extensive  as  it  had  been  before 
the  accident.  —  Garengeot  mentions  a  similar  case  effected  by 
M.  Bossu,  a  surgeon,  at  Arras,  in  which  a  boy  cut  off  the 
third  phalanx  of  the  thumb  of  his  left  hand.  He  put  the 
severed  part  into  his  pocket  and  went  to  the  surgeon,  who 
washed  it  in  warm  wine,  reapplied  it,  and  was  successful  in  ob- 
taining complete  adhesion.  —  These,  however,  not  more  sur- 
prising than  the  preparations  in  the  Hunterian  museum  at  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  where  a  human  tooth,  upon  being 
extracted,  was  immediately  inserted  into  the  comb  of  a  cock, 
where  it  became  nourished  and  remained.  This  was  done  by 
John  Hunter.  Mr.  John  Bell  disputed  the  fact,  nay,  he  to- 
tally disbelieved  it ;  but,  upon  visiting  the  museum  one  day 
with  Sir  Astley  Cooper,  the  preparations  upon  which  he  first 


SYMPATHETICAL    CURES.  213 

vitality  of  the  part,  and  enable  it  to  go  through 
those  processes  necessary  for  rendering  it  again 
a  constituent  part  of  the  frame. 

fixed  his  eye  were  the  sections  of  the  cock's  head,  upon  which 
the  baronet  good-naturedly  observed,  "  Ah  !  he  does  indeed 
stare  you  in  the  face."  —  The  late  Mr.  Hodgson,  a  celebrated 
suro-eon  at  Lewes,  when  a  boy,  had  his  nose  so  cut  that  the 
only  bond  of  union  was  a  small  portion  of  skin  by  which  it 
huiiCT.  His  mother  replaced  the  nose,  and  it  united.  The 
cicatrix  was  visible  to  the  day  of  his  death,  which  lately  oc- 
curred at  an  advanced  age."— The  'Journal  der  Chirurgie 
und  Augen-Heilkunde'  (B.  7,H.  4)  relates  two  cases  in  which 
the  nose  was  united  after  a  complete  separation  from  the  face. 
In  one  of  these  cases,  two  hours  elapsed  before  the  severed 
part  was  sought  after  and  applied,  but  the  union  was  perfectly 
successful. 


THE  END. 


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